Shine
by idiotique
Summary: Naminé spends her second year of high school at the exquisite Brighton Academy, hoping that her new life will be more eventful than her old one. Little does she know that a certain blond boy will do more than just bring a little excitement...
1. Gated In

_A/N: I'm normally not a fan of AUs, but when I was in the car Coldplay's _Yellow _came on and I was struck with an idea._

_Happy reading!_

**Gated In**

"Why am I doing this again?"

"Because this is beneficial to your education, and it'll look great on your college applications."

"College isn't for another two years…"

"Naminé, we haven't been saving all these years for nothing, and it's a little too late to be arguing about this."

The blonde huffed in frustration and crossed her arms stubbornly, her pale blues glaring out the window. Her mother shook her head and turned around to face the front.

"Your mother's right, Naminé," Her father added, "And aren't you excited to see your cousin?"

She sighed, relaxing her arms. "Of course I am - I hardly see Kairi." She only saw her cousin once or twice a year, but they frequently kept in touch by email.

"Well, you should be happy then," Her mother said, "You'll be spending the year with her."

The car took a right turn, and the open fields eventually transformed into estates with sizes that rivaled shopping malls. All of them were sealed in with tall gates and brick walls. Naminé pressed her nose against the window, staring up at the intricate manors - _McMansions, _she thought wryly - with her mouth slightly parted in awe. She knew Kairi was well off, but _this?_

"What exactly do Uncle and Auntie do?" She asked, her eyes still glued to the passing mansions.

"Oh, they own and manage a company." Her father replied nonchalantly, "Something that has to do with computers, I think?"

"No, no," Her mother interjected, "They make and sell car parts."

"Actually, I think they have something to do with the bank…" Her father trailed off, releasing one hand from the wheel to scratch the back of his head.

"Forget I asked…" Naminé muttered, throwing herself back against her chair and shaking her head. The car wheeled into a long cobblestone driveway that lead to a tall, wrought-iron gate. Kairi's family crest was emblazoned at the top in gold. Beyond the gate sat a large McMansion, probably one of the largest in the entire neighbourhood.

"State your name and purpose, please." A male voice emerged from the side; there was a small intercom nailed to the beige brick wall. Naminé's father rolled down his window and poked his head out to speak to it.

"Jin, Ayame and Naminé Hinomoto," He said plainly, "Naminé's staying with her aunt and uncle for the school year."

"Ah," The person replied almost immediately, "Yes, they have been expecting you. "Come right in."

The gate opened slowly and dramatically, and the car moved forward. The road was lined with tall sakura trees; each branch was mottled with delicate, white-pink blossoms, and some were fluttering onto the bright green grass. Flower beds of different sizes, shapes and kinds were planted all over the place; Naminé wondered if they made some sort of picture if she was able to see it from a birds' eye view. The mansion looked like a restoration of an old Victorian manor; it was covered in large milky beige bricks with, long, thin windows, and the roof had black shingles. The path opened up into a two-way roundabout; there was a large fountain in the centre that reminded her of one of those ancient Roman sculptures. She figured that the second path led to the garage. When her father stopped the car at the front, two men dressed in black tuxedos and matching black bow ties were waiting for them.

"My name is Takai. I'll take your car to the garage for you," One of them said; he looked young, possibly in his late twenties. "Geoffrey here will assist you with your belongings."

Geoffrey looked like he was in his mid-forties; there was a kind, genuine smile on his face. He opened the door for Naminé and her mother and helped them out of the car. "I trust you'll be enjoying your stay, Miss Naminé."

The blonde flushed as Geoffrey and her father circled the car towards the trunk. "I'll try." She mumbled shyly. She felt her mother's hand on her shoulder and she glanced up at her. "Mom…"

"Don't worry, Naminé," Her mother smiled down at her, "I'm pretty sure you'll love it here." She gestured towards the grand Victorian mansion. "How can you not? This looks like it was taken straight out of a fairytale!"

"Right, looks like we've got all of them," Geoffrey spoke up; he was wheeling two of Naminé's bags towards the stone steps, "Let's press on, shall we?"

The shiny, mahogany double doors that lead them into the mansion was twice Naminé's height. Geoffrey pushed one door open and gestured inside, letting Naminé and her mother in first. The blonde thanked him timidly and shuffled inside.

The foyer was even more amazing than the outside; right in front there was a grand marble staircase with black iron banisters. The floors were shiny, marble and polished, and the walls were a soft, delicate yellow. There were expensive looking paintings, sculptures and other forms of art decor everywhere. Above their heads hung an elaborate crystal chandelier.

"Why haven't we been here before?" Naminé asked her mother skeptically.

"Oh, your Uncle and Auntie may be wealthy, but they're very modest." She replied casually, and Naminé raised an eyebrow - the foyer did not look very modest at all.

"Welcome, welcome!" A middle-aged man with thinning hair walked into the foyer from some other room to the side with his arms spread out. His eyes were a pale blue, like Naminé's and her father's. "Jin, brother, so glad to see you! And Ayame, looking lovely as always."

"Ryo," Her father greeted, pulling the man into a one-armed hug, "It's been too long."

"Thank you again for letting us do this," Her mother smiled gratefully, "I know Naminé will love it here."

"No need to be thankful, Ayame - family's always first! Ah, Naminé," Ryo approached the blonde and pressed his large hands on her shoulders, "Are you excited for your new school? You should be - Brighton Academy is known for its exquisite education."

"Is that Naminé?" A woman with billowing auburn hair approached them from behind Ryo; her eyes were kind, like her smile. "Oh, you've grown so big - you're beginning to look a lot like your mother. Beautiful."

Naminé flushed in embarrassment and gripped the hem of her sundress. She really did not know what her Aunt meant by _you've grown so big; _personally she thought she was puny. "T-thank you, Auntie Midori." She stammered, her gaze stuck to the floor.

"Naminé!" A high, ringing voice echoed through the wide foyer, and the blonde immediately jerked upwards at the mention of her name. Kairi was rushing down the stairs, eager to greet her cousin. She leapt into Naminé's arms and crushed her affectionately with her own. "You're here!" Her voice was muffled against Naminé's hair.

The blonde giggled and pulled away from her favourite cousin, her smile wide. "I'm happy to see you too, Kairi."

"She's been waiting for you," Ryo chuckled, "She wouldn't stop talking about your arrival for weeks. At least now she has some company - she gets so bored at home."

"That's right," Kairi grinned, taking Naminé by the hand, "With you around things here will definitely be more exciting. C'mon, I'll show you to your room!"

"See, Naminé? Things won't be so bad after all." Her mother bent down to pull her into a hug. "Call us whenever you can, but make sure to call after your first day of school!"

"Which is tomorrow," Her father added, and Naminé's nervousness returned. He chuckled and ruffled his daughter's hair. "I know you'll do alright. Keep your head high."

"I know I don't need to say this, but try and behave yourself." Her mother straightened up. "You run along with Kairi now."

Naminé felt the corners of her eyes stinging, and she released Kairi's hand to hug both of her parents. "I'll miss you both."

"We'll miss you too," Her father's hand was gently patting the top of her head. "But we know that this is for the best. You'll do fine." His head turned towards the door. "Well, we best be going now. It'll be a long drive back."

"Leaving so soon?" Ryo sighed and pushed his hands into the pockets of his blazer. "Well, it was nice seeing you both again. Be sure to stop by whenever you can!"

"You know you're always welcome here." Midori smiled.

"Bye Mom, Dad." Naminé sniffled as she reluctantly released her hold on her parents. She returned to Kairi's side. "I'll remember to call." She waved at her parents until they disappeared behind the mahogany door.

"Geoffrey, be sure to bring Naminé's bags to her room as soon as you can," Ryo then turned to face Naminé, who was still staring at the front doors. "And Naminé, you can drive, right?"

Naminé flushed again. "Erm, no," She admitted sheepishly, "I only have my learner's permit."

"Oh, that's alright," Ryo smiled, "Kairi still has her learner's permit too. When you get your license, however, tell me." Naminé was going to ask what he meant by that, but he began to walk back to the room he came from, and Midori moved to follow him. "We'll leave you two alone now, since Kairi seems very eager to show you your room."

The blonde bowed respectfully. "T-thank you for letting me stay, Uncle Ryo and Auntie Midori. I'm very grateful...really, I am."

"Please, Naminé, you know you don't have to do that. You're family." Midori replied softly.

"Oh, stop stalling already!" Kairi grabbed Naminé's hand again and yanked her towards the staircase. Behind them Kairi's parents burst out in laughter.

"Don't break her, Kairi!" Ryo's voice echoed from below as his daughter proceeded to drag the poor blonde up the stairs. Kairi was pulling her cousin down so many doors and hallways; Naminé's head was spinning by the time they reached their destination.

"Your room's right beside mine," Kairi grinned, jerking her thumb over to the adjacent door, "So I won't be too far away." She lightly pushed Naminé forward. "Well, go on - go see your new room!"

The blonde did not understand why Kairi was so excited, but she shrugged it off and reached for the brass handle. When she stepped into her room for the first time, her eyes widened and her jaw dropped.

"Wow," Was the only word she managed to choke out.

Her new room was twice as big as her room back home; the floors were covered with plush white carpet and the walls were painted a soft baby blue. There was a wide window on the opposite wall with a long white couch running along the bottom. Her bed was huge too, with a black iron frame and an overhang with silky white sheets sweeping over the sides and the front; nightstands flanked either side of the bed. A polished wooden desk sat by the other wall, occupied by a shiny, expensive looking computer; a bookshelf sat beside it.

"Bathroom and closet are over there," Kairi nodded over to the white doors on the left. She walked forward, towards the wall with the wide window. "Come here."

Still shocked over the perfection of her new room, Naminé stumbled forward, nearly tripping over her own feet. Kairi was pointing towards a white doorframe.

"I picked everything out myself," The redhead said proudly, "And I made sure _this_ was added too! What are you waiting for? Walk in!"

"Aw, Kairi…" Naminé felt the tears return to her eyes as she walked into the smaller room; the floors here were simple maple paneling, and the walls were a stark white. There was an easel sitting by the small window, and a black drafting table sat against the right wall. There were some empty shelves along the opposite wall, probably for the art supplies sitting on the floor.

"I dunno how you like to organize your supplies, so I kinda left it on the floor for you." Kairi scratched her head, "I didn't want-_oof!"_

Naminé had launched herself right into Kairi, encircling her arms around her cousin's waist and burying her face into her shoulder. "Thank you, thank you, thank you!" She cried happily, "You really didn't have to do any of this - I'm already being enough of a burden by staying here."

"Burden? Is that what you call yourself these days?" Kairi held her cousin out at arms' length. "You're my favourite cousin, Nami - I just want you to be comfortable here. You're not a burden at all."

"I really owe you for this," Naminé mumbled, letting go of Kairi and crouching over her new art supplies, "These are all top quality brands too…"

A shuffling sound was heard from the main room and Kairi turned towards the doorframe. "Oh, Geoffrey just dropped off your stuff. Looks like you've got a lot of unpacking to do - need some help?"

Naminé stood up and smiled, nodding her head. "Yes, that would be nice, thank you."

Both girls went straight to work, unloading Naminé's clothes and putting them in their right places. She surprisingly had a lot of clothes, but she never really wore most of them.

"You didn't have to bring so much, you know - you'll be wearing a school uniform most of the time anyway. Is your favourite colour white?" Kairi held up a white t-shirt and a pair of white capris. "'Cause most of your wardrobe's white."

"White isn't a colour, Kairi." Naminé teased as she approached her walk-in closet with a pile of pale coloured clothing.

"Whatever, you know what I'm trying to say. What _is_ your favourite colour then, if white isn't one?"

"Hm," Naminé absently twirled her finger around a lock of hair as she shoved her clothes into one of the cubby holes, "I think it'd have to be between blue and yellow."

"Blue...I can see that. Yellow, huh?" Said Kairi's voice from outside, "Suits you, I guess." Naminé returned to the main room to see her cousin rifling through more shirts. "So are you gonna miss your old high school?"

"Not really," Naminé replied as she bent over to pick up a few sneakers, "I never really made friends, and you know - first year's always so nerve wracking. I was too concentrated on my schoolwork to socialize."

"Nobody from your elementary? Junior high?"

"Nope," Naminé's lips made a popping sound when she pronounced the second syllable, "But it's never bothered me. The kids at school were kinda weird anyway."

"Ah," Kairi nodded in understanding, "But I'm sure you'll make new friends here, which reminds me; I have to introduce you to my boyfriend!"

The blonde froze, just as she was about to walk back to her closet. "Boyfriend?" She echoed, surprised. She always thought of Kairi as the type who thought she was too good for boys. "You didn't mention _that_ in your last email."

"We've only been going out for a couple months, but I've known him for, like, ever." The redhead grinned, "His name's Sora. You'll see him tomorrow. See, now you have another guaranteed friend - besides me, of course."

"I hope he likes me," Naminé mumbled.

Kairi laughed. "I'm pretty sure he will; I've told him all about you!"

"What's he like?"

"He's very sweet and thoughtful - oh, and caring too!" Kairi's voice sounded very faraway, like she was daydreaming. "A little on the naïve side, though, and maybe a bit of a wimp - I've kicked his butt twice."

The blonde giggled as she pushed her shoes into the shelves. "Doesn't sound like your type, to be honest."

"Oh yeah, totally," Kairi agreed as she walked into the closet, her arms laden with Naminé's clothes, "But that's just the way things work, I guess. What about you? How's your love life?"

"Non-existent," Naminé replied dully, tugging on her hair, "Never really had the time, and like I said, the people back home are kinda weird."

Kairi sighed as she reached for the hangers. "Well, that's obviously going to change."

"W-what?" Naminé spun around to face her cousin, her eyes wide.

"One good thing about Brighton," Kairi leaned in and lowered her voice, though there was really nobody around to hide anything from, "The boys are quite..._delectable."_

Naminé snorted. "You say that as if they're good enough to eat."

"Would I lie to you?" Kairi laughed, returning to the clothes.

The rest of the afternoon was easy; Kairi was very chatty and cheerful throughout the entire time they stocked up Naminé's closet, and she offered to take the blonde on a tour of the house. There were so many rooms - there was a gym, a mini-theatre, an indoor swimming pool, a library bigger than the public one back home, a tearoom, at least five drawing rooms and around fifteen guest bedrooms. Even after the tour, however, Naminé was sure she was going to get lost tomorrow morning. She was thankful Kairi's room was right beside hers.

Time passed quickly when she had someone to spend it with, and before Naminé knew it, it was time for dinner. The dining room was huge, with a high ceiling, a crystal chandelier, and tall windows lining the walls. The table was long, polished and made of dark wood. The chair Naminé sat in was so comfortable she would have taken a nap in it. The food was amazing too - all gourmet, of course - and was served in five courses. Kairi had to show her what a salad fork looked like.

"I hope you like your room, Naminé," Midori said after sipping from her wine, "Kairi prepared everything."

"Yes, I love it," The blonde smiled, "And the studio...that was a nice surprise. I really don't know how to thank you for all of this."

Besides forgetting to place the napkin on her lap and not really knowing what Kairi meant when she said to _work your way in,_ dinner went smoothly. The girls decided to spend their last summer evening in the mini-theatre, watching television and listening to music. By quarter to midnight they decided it was time to call it a day.

"You'll love school," Kairi promised her as they paused by their respective doors, "Maybe not the schoolwork, but school in general, you will love. I thought it was gonna be full of snobs and shallow girls, but I was proved wrong."

Naminé laughed softly, reaching for the door handle. "I'll take your word on that." She covered her mouth with the back of her hand, suppressing a yawn. "'Night, Kairi. See you in the morning."

"'Night, Nami." The redhead waved once before closing her door.

The long car ride, unpacking, walking all over the mansion and the various eating utensils tired Naminé out; she trudged to her closet, grabbing a pair of plaid short shorts and a pale blue tank top before heading to the bathroom to clean up for bed. The queen sized mattress was impossibly soft; it seemed to sigh under her weight as she clambered onto it. She poked her pillows and realized with glee that they were down.

_You'll love school, _Kairi's words were repeating themselves in Naminé's head as she pulled the white sheets over herself. She knew Kairi would not lie to her, but for some reason she felt like she leaving a few things out.

_Nah, _her conscience disagreed, _You're probably just nervous 'cause it'll be your first day at a new school with people you've never met. _

That was partially true; at least back home she was familiar with everyone, sort of. She shrugged it off, realizing that if she thought about it any more she would not be able to get any sleep, and pressed her flaxen head against the soft pillows. The heaviness of sleep conquered her easily, and Naminé was out in an instant.

Tomorrow would be the day her new life started; hopefully it would be more exciting than her last one.


	2. Time For School!

_A/N: Maybach 62 Zeppelin - search that up._

_For some reason when I pictured the interior of the school, I pictured Hogwarts...so try and envision that, minus the magic. Haha._

--

**Time For School!**

"GAH!"

The little, modern-looking radio sitting innocently on Naminé's bedside table was surprisingly very loud; the blonde nearly fell off her bed when her alarm went off. She rubbed her eyes sleepily and shut her alarm off, stumbling out of bed; her foot somehow caught on the sheets and she toppled head-first onto the floor. What a way to start the morning.

The small blonde was grumbling to herself the entire way to her bathroom, rubbing her reddened forehead. The shower took away the worst of the pain, thankfully. When she emerged from the bathroom draped in a fluffy white towel, she noticed that somebody had placed her school uniform on the bed. It looked pretty simple: plain, pleated black skirt, white dress shirt, navy sweater vest with the school crest patched on the left, black tie with thin navy and silver stripes running diagonally across and black knee highs. A pair of simple black dress shoes was sitting by the foot of her bed, along with her canvas messenger bag, already stuffed with the necessary binders, school supplies and textbooks.

Naminé dressed quickly and ran into her closet, where the full length mirror was. The dark colours made her look paler than she already was, much to her dismay, and she was completely helpless with the tie; she never had to wear one in her old school. Straightening her skirt and smoothing out her sweater vest, she plucked her bag from the floor and raced out the door, only to nearly bump into Kairi.

"That excited for school, huh?" Kairi snickered, but then her face faltered when she noticed the undone tie hanging around Naminé's neck. She reached forward and tied it quickly and tucked it into her cousin's vest. "There, much better. Remind me to teach you later." She grabbed the blonde's hand and pulled her down the hallway. "Let's get some breakfast, and then we'll go."

Instead of eating in the dining room like the night before, they ate a quick breakfast in the kitchen. With chrome appliances and granite counters, the kitchen was the most modern looking room in the entire manor. The girls quickly scooped the cereal into their mouths and downed her milk, and then headed outside, where a shiny black Maybach was waiting for them at the bottom of the steps. Takai was standing patiently by the back door.

"Good morning, Miss Kairi," He bowed, "Miss Naminé." He opened the door for them. He helped them both inside before clambering into the driver's seat. The interior of the car was very sleek, and everything was swathed in clean black leather.

"Wow," Naminé breathed; she was staring at the small flat screen television a few feet in front of her.

"Get used to it," Kairi smirked, "This is the way things are gonna be every school year."

The ride to school was not very long; it was a good ten minutes by the time the car pulled into a long paved pathway, mottled with other shiny, expensive looking cars; the area was secured by tall brick walls and a black iron gate, much like the McMansions. The words 'BRIGHTON ACADEMY' were emblazoned in gold at the top of the gate, along with 'Non Scholae, Sed Vitae Discimus' in slightly smaller writing below it.

"What does the Latin motto thing mean?" The blonde asked, her eyes still trailing over the shiny gate.

"Uh, I think it means _we do not learn for school, but for life."_ Kairi scratched her head, unsure.

Naminé gaped at the vast property as the car slowly strolled by; Brighton Academy looked more like a university campus than a high school. The pathway opened up into a large roundabout; in the centre was a tall marble monument of an important looking man, probably the founder of the school. Five large buildings with Baroque-esque architecture surrounded the roundabout, and there were trees everywhere.

"That's the Science and Math Wing," Kairi pointed towards the building closest to them, "Beside it is the Arts Wing, which you'll absolutely love. That one-" She pointed at the building that sat at the top of the roundabout; it fit perfectly in between the other four, "-is the student centre, which also has the admin office - you gotta go there first to check in, since you're new and everything. The other two-" She gestured towards the two buildings on the right of the student centre, "-are the Social Sciences Wing and the Business Wing. The PA Wing's at the back - here's fine, Takai."

"Have a nice day, you two," Takai said as he helped them out of the car, "And I hope your first day runs smoothly, Miss Naminé."

"Thank you," The blonde smiled shyly before shuffling over to her cousin's side, her bag slung over her shoulder. She turned towards the building Kairi pointed out earlier. "So I have to go over there?"

"Mmhmm; they'll give you your schedule and everything - oh!" Kairi reached for her bag and zipped open the front pocket, pulling out something small, sleek and white. She tossed it over to Naminé, who barely caught it. "I forgot to give this to you yesterday."

"A phone? Gosh, you're too much." She flipped it open and examined the phonebook; Kairi's cell phone and house number were already programmed into it.

"C'mon, I'll walk you to the admin office," Kairi took her by the hand and tugged her towards the beautiful building, "Maybe we'll have a few classes together."

"Kairi!" A male voice popped up from behind, and both girls spun around to see who it was. A cute, baby faced boy was running towards them with his hand held up. His other hand was holding his navy blazer over his shoulder.

"I'm guessing that's Sora." Naminé smirked, and Kairi sighed.

Sora's hair was a rich chocolate brown, and also unbelievably spiky; it stuck up and out in every direction imaginable. His eyes were startlingly blue. When he finally reached the two girls he hunched over, dropping his blazer to the grass and placing his hands on his knees. He was huffing uncontrollably.

"I thought you were fit, Sora." Kairi giggled.

Sora straightened up, picking up his blazer along the way. His face was slightly flushed from running. "I am - I ran to school today."

_"Ran?" _The redhead gaped, "That would've taken you a good forty-five minutes!"

"Yeah, well, I kinda woke up late today, and my brother already left by the time I was dressed and everything." Sora turned towards Naminé and eyed her carefully; the blonde blushed and dropped her gaze to the floor. "You must be Naminé," He said kindly; she could hear the smile in his voice. "I'm Sora Katsura."

She slowly looked up and tried to smile back. "Yeah, that's me. Nice to meet you."

"I'm guessing you're both heading to the student centre...mind if I tag along? We still got a good fifteen minutes before class." Sora said, glancing at his phone.

Kairi shrugged and reached for his hand. "Sure, I don't see why not. You don't mind, do you?" She turned to face Naminé, who shook her head wordlessly. The three walked down the cobblestone walkway to the student centre; Kairi and Sora laughed and chatted animately, and they tried to include Naminé in their conversation but she was too shy to say much. Every once in awhile they would encounter a student Kairi or Sora recognized and they would say a quick hello; it made the blonde feel strangely lonely.

"Here we are," Kairi chirped as she pushed open the doors to the building; the place had a very old feel to it, with the aged stone walls and floors. "The office is just over there." She led Naminé over to the first door on the right. "Go on in - we'll wait for you here."

Naminé nodded and entered the small office; there was an elderly woman sitting behind a dark wooden desk, with her glasses teetering on the end of her long nose.

"Hello," The blonde greeted unsurely, "Erm, I'm Naminé Hinomoto-"

"Oh, you must be Kairi's cousin!" The woman perked up the moment she heard Naminé's last name, "Hold on, I'll get you what you need for the day." She shuffled through some papers and handed over her schedule, her locker assignment and another slip of paper. "You need to get your teachers to sign that, and then you bring it back at the end of the day."

"Thank you," The blonde carefully folded the piece of paper and tucked it away into her bag. "I guess I'll see you later, then." She headed towards the door.

"Yes, have a nice first day!" The woman waved as Naminé closed the door behind her. Kairi and Sora immediately stood up from their spot on the small wooden bench against the wall, their faces eager.

"So, what're your classes like?" Kairi snatched Naminé's schedule and locker assignment out of her hands. The blonde's hands tightened into fists by her sides.

"Hey - I didn't even look at it yet!"

"Your locker's in the SS Wing; we can go there later if you want. Oh, Sora - she's got English and Gym with you," Kairi and Sora's heads were bent together over her schedule, "We have Math together, Nami - and all three of us have the same lunch!"

"Looks like you've got homeroom to yourself, though," Sora scratched the back of his head, "Neither of us are in History with you."

"History?" Naminé pulled her schedule out of Kairi's hands.

The redhead laughed. "Good luck staying awake in the morning with that." She plucked her phone out of her bag and her eyes widened at the time. "Crap - we've got a good four minutes before the bell. Think you know where to go?"

_"Four minutes?" _Naminé spluttered; she stuffed her schedule into her bag, but not before checking it one last time to see which room it was in. "Of course I know where it is, unless History's not a social science!"

"I've got Geography now, so we'll be in the same building." Sora grinned; his smile was very innocent looking. "I'll run with you."

"See you guys later!" Kairi scurried out of the building, and Sora and Naminé followed suit.

"Ugh, why does the SS Wing have to be on the far side of campus?" Sora complained as the both of them jogged down the cobblestone path; numerous students around them were hurrying to their classes as well. "Out of all things to do on the first day of school…"

"But the student centre is in the...well, centre. Technically it's not that far." Naminé pointed out in between breaths.

"Oh," The brunet scratched the back of his spiky head, and Naminé laughed. "Right."

Sora was very easy to like, Naminé concluded as they raced towards their destination. The inside was identical to the student centre, with old stone floors and walls. Sora led the way, skipping up the stairs two steps at a time; Naminé was not as articulated as he was - she was not exactly known as the graceful one in her family; sadly Kairi had all of it - so she had to run up the stairs with a bit more effort to catch up with him. Sora finally reached a mahogany door. He shrugged off his bag to pull his blazer on.

"That's your room," He jerked his thumb towards the door. He nodded over to a door just down the hallway. "And that's mine. I'll see you later!"

Naminé laughed and waved goodbye as Sora jogged down the hallway to his own class. When he was inside she decided it was time she went in too, and pushed the door open.

The classroom was pretty much the same as the hallways with the stony design. The blackboard was pitch black, void of all chalk streaks, and there were informational posters tacked up on the cork bulletin boards. The desks were neat and new looking; some of them were occupied with students. The teacher, who was sitting at his own desk at the very front, was busy reading from a thick textbook.

"Er," Naminé stuttered as she approached him; she pulled out the little slip of paper from her bag, "Hi, I'm Naminé-"

"Hinomoto?" The middle-aged man glanced upwards to smile at her. He seemed nice enough. "Nice to meet you. I hope you'll like it here at Brighton." He politely took the paper from her hands and signed it quickly. "Take a seat - we'll be starting soon."

She thanked him quickly and shoved the paper back into her bag. She noticed that the students in the classroom did not seem to care that there was a new, unfamiliar student in their presence; was it not tradition to ogle and whisper conspicuously about her, or something? She decided to sit at one of the desks in the middle row. There was a hook at the side of her desk for her bag, and she glanced at it curiously. Wow, luxury even at _school_ - but then again, what kind of rich person would want to put their bag on the floor?

"Alright, everybody settle down now," Immediately the students scattered, filling up most of the desks. The teacher stood up and turned around to hastily write his name on the blackboard. "Welcome to History - I, Mr. Watanabe, will be your teacher for the year. Most of you I recognize, and some I don't - which reminds me, we have a new student."

Naminé's eyes widened, and her pale fingers gripped the edge of her desk. The students finally noticed her, and they all turned in her direction. She waved around anxiously. "H...Hello," Her voice was shaky from nervousness, "M-my name is Naminé. Naminé Hinomoto."

"Are you related to Kairi Hinomoto?" One girl asked.

The blonde flushed and nodded. "Y-yeah, I'm her cousin."

"Awesome." One boy gave her the thumbs up, and Naminé could not help but smile. So far, Kairi seemed to be right about the students. Mr. Watanabe cleared his throat, returning everyone's attention to him.

"Now that she's made her introduction, we can start-"

The door suddenly burst open, revealing a latecomer. Mr. Watanabe's face fell; the disappointment Naminé read in his eyes made her assume that he did not like this student very much.

"Mister Katsura...how nice of you to join us."

_Katsura? Wasn't that Sora's last name? _Naminé whipped her head towards the door, and her brow knit together in confusion.

The boy standing by the door was not Sora, but he bore a strong resemblance to him. They had the same boyish blue eyes and crooked grin, though this boy's looked a bit more mischievous, and his features were more chiseled than childlike. His hair was short, blond and unruly; it swept over his eyes and stuck up at the end. There was a band-aid on his right cheek, his shirt was untucked, the sleeves of his blazer were pushed up to his elbows and his tie was loose. He casually strode through the various rows of desks, not even bothering to acknowledge the teacher. The girls he passed by sighed in contentment, giving Naminé the impression that he had quite a history with them. The boys rolled their eyes and grumbled amongst themselves - oh, so he seemed to have a history with _everybody._

Who could blame them, anyway - the girls, she meant. She admitted that the boy was actually kind of cute - not baby cute like Sora, but like a mysterious sort of cute. Was there even such a thing?

"Alright, I'm pretty sure we can start now." Mr. Watanabe sighed, turning around to face the blackboard once more.

The hour and ten minute long lecture passed by quickly, much to Naminé's surprise, but then again first day lectures always did. The bell rang, and she reached for her schedule; she had Math next with Kairi.

As she stood up, she felt someone's eyes on her; she did not have to see whose it was. She left the classroom in a hurry, afraid that he would come up and talk to her. As cute as he looked she was not in the mood to be social, at least not today. First days were always stressful, especially when one was in a new school, and she had to put all her concentration on just getting by.

Luckily she managed to reach her next class without getting lost; her cousin was waiting for her, sitting patiently at her desk by the window.

"Glad to see you've found your way," Kairi smiled after Naminé had the teacher sign her slip of paper, "It's pretty straightforward, no?"

"Yeah," The blonde agreed as she sat beside her cousin, "It's not so bad, even with the different buildings."

"How was History? Did you fall asleep?" The redhead snickered as she pulled out her pencil case.

The image of the boy flashed across Naminé's mind. "Surprisingly, no," She pulled at her hair hesitantly for a moment before continuing, "But there was a boy that came late to class-"

"Was he cute? He _was_ cute, wasn't he?" Kairi immediately interrupted, and Naminé rolled her eyes.

"You have a boyfriend." She reminded her.

"I know I do, but I just want to know if the boy you saw was cute or not. Just being curious, y'know. Geez."

The blonde sighed. "Yes, yes he was cute. The only thing that bothered me was his last name. It's Katsura - same as Sora's, right?"

Kairi's eyes widened. "Oh, you have Roxas in your homeroom? Interesting."

"Roxas?" _What an odd name._

"Mmhmm - he's Sora's brother. Twins!" The redhead replied casually, fishing her textbook and binder out of her bag, "Good looks seem to be prominent in their family, eh?"

_"Kairi!"_

"I can't blame you for finding him cute, though - he's got that whole bad boy thing going on." Kairi grinned, and Naminé raised an eyebrow.

"Huh? What are you-"

"You better ask Sora about that; it's not my story to tell, really," Kairi's eyes glanced over the blonde's shoulder, and she giggled. "Oh, what a coincidence."

Naminé's eyes widened, and she slowly turned around to see Roxas striding through the door with one hand in his pocket and the other clutching his book bag over one shoulder. Their eyes met for a split second and she immediately turned away, her cheeks tinged scarlet.

"Great," She muttered under her breath, and Kairi stifled another giggle.

"Sora'll explain everything to you at lunch, so be patient for another hour or so." She assured her.

Sighing, Naminé leaned back in her seat and stared up towards the ceiling. For some reason, she felt like she could not wait that long.


	3. The Other Katsura

_A/N: BMW M6 Coupe - you'd want to search that up as well. I'm not a car fan, but I sure as hell love researching them for my stories._

--

**The Other Katsura.**

Math was one of Naminé's least favourite subjects, but since it was first day the lecture flew by as quickly as homeroom, and soon enough she found herself walking towards the student centre with Kairi.

"Roxas seemed to be staring at you a lot," Kairi mentioned slyly, "Was he doing that in homeroom too?"

Naminé's cheeks were tinged pink. "You were looking at him?"

"Well, not all the time, but you know how you can just _feel_ someone's stare? I knew he was looking at you the entire time!" Her cousin giggled, shaking her head. "Maybe he likes you."

"He doesn't even know me, Kairi." The blonde muttered as they entered the student centre. They walked further into the building and descended a few steps; the hallway opened up into a large cafeteria, already busy with students.

"He doesn't have to know you to think you're cute." Kairi waved towards someone in the distance; Sora was already at a table, along with three other people Naminé did not recognize. "Hey guys!"

"Hiya Kairi, Naminé." Sora scooted further down the bench to leave room for the girls. He quickly pecked Kairi on the cheek; the redhead smiled and laced their fingers together.

"Nami," She tugged on her cousin's sleeve with her free hand; Naminé glanced upwards and noticed that her cousin was gesturing towards the three strangers. "These are our friends Hayner, Pence and Olette."

Hayner had wavy blonde hair that was pushed back, and brown eyes. He looked a little intimidating at first, but when he finally smiled Naminé decided that he did not look so cold after all. "Hey."

Pence was a little on the chubby side with spiky black hair. His dark eyes twinkled under the sunlight that streaked through the tall windows. "Hello, Naminé." He waved one of his hands, which was holding a bright blue popsicle.

"It's nice to meet you, Naminé." Olette was very pretty, with dark brown hair and pale green eyes.

"Hi," Naminé waved back shakily, "It's nice to meet you too."

"So what kind of classes do you have this semester, Naminé?" Pence asked, licking casually at his popsicle.

"Um, I have History homeroom, t-then Math," Naminé tugged at her hair, not knowing why she felt so nervous, "Then English, and...I end with Gym."

"Nice, I've got English with you and Sora after this," Hayner smirked. "Aren't you hungry? The food they got here is actually worth eating, y'know."

"I'll go get it for you," Kairi released Sora's hand, "Olette, wanna tag along?"

The brunette sprung up from her seat and joined her friend as they made their way towards the lunch line. Sora scratched the back of his head and resumed scarfing down his lasagna. His spiky hair and dark blue eyes sparked something inside of Naminé and she was instantly reminded of her two previous classes.

"Oh, Sora-" The brunet looked up slowly at the mention of his name, "-your brother is in both of my classes."

"He is?" Sora chuckled and shook his head. "Well, you better remember his face, 'cause you're not gonna see him for awhile."

Naminé's head tilted to the side in confusion. "What do you mean?"

"He doesn't really go to class," Sora explained, "He usually shows up on the first day, and then just goes whenever he feels like."

"Er, may I ask why?"

"It's kind of complicated, really," Sora said as he placed his fork down on his tray, "I'm pretty sure you've figured out by now that Roxas and I are twins, which makes you assume that he and I are very close."

The blonde hesitated. "Um...you are, right?"

"Sorta," The brunet smiled ruefully, "Y'see, our parents divorced when we were really small. He moved out with Dad, while I stayed with Mom.

"I didn't see him much after that - only during the summertime, when he'd stay over. That was the only time we really hung out. When high school came around both my parents wanted him to have a better education, so he came to live with us permanently." He ran his hand through his hair. "I worry about him a lot; he's smart and everything, but he just doesn't try."

Right on cue, a loud splattering noise erupted from the entrance of the cafeteria. Sora, Hayner, Pence and Naminé's heads, along with the other students occupying the cafeteria, snapped towards the noise. Four senior students and a junior - Naminé realized with shock that it was Roxas - were standing at the bottom of the steps. All of them were staring at an overturned tray by their feet.

"DAMN IT!" One of them had sandy blond hair and green eyes; he was stomping his foot childishly and waving his fists. "I just wasted my seven bucks!"

A tall boy with fiery, spiky hair was laughing hysterically; he was doubled over with his hands clutching his stomach. "Oh God," He sighed, wiping his eyes; there were strange black markings underneath them, "That was rich!"

The only girl in the group rolled her green eyes and pinched the bridge of her small nose. "You are _so_ stupid, Demyx."

"Can we just go sit? Everybody's staring." A boy with smoky grey hair drooping over his eyes was shaking his head.

Roxas was already making his way towards one of the empty tables near the back of the cafeteria, his shoulders hunched and his hands stuffed in his pockets. The fiery redhead grabbed the blond boy - Demyx - and dragged him towards the table; the girl and the grey haired boy tagged along.

"He hangs out with seniors?" Naminé gaped. Across from her, Hayner chuckled.

"He's known them longer than anybody else here, besides Sora of course."

Naminé's expression only grew more confused, and Sora sighed, running his fingers through his hair again.

"The five of them-" He jerked his head towards the table Roxas and the four seniors were sitting at, "-are part of a gang called The XIII. They're pretty bad; they get into a lot of fights with other gangs and cause all sorts of trouble in town. Those five are the youngest, though - the others are all out of school, the oldest being in his late twenties. Roxas has been a part of them since middle school."

"Wow." Was all Naminé could say.

"Hey guys," Olette and Kairi returned with their lunches; Kairi handed Naminé hers and eyed the expression on her face. She raised an eyebrow towards Sora. "You told her, didn't you?"

The brunet nodded, and Kairi sighed, turning back towards her cousin. "See what I mean by _bad boy?"_

Naminé's eyes drifted over to Roxas' table, and again their eyes met; she quickly turned around and grabbed her fork. "Yes," She said quickly, stabbing at her lasagna, "I do."

"Are you okay, Naminé?" Olette leaned forward a little to peer closer into the blonde's face. "You look a little red."

Kairi snickered. "I think someone's got a little crush."

Naminé shot her a glare. "N-no! I don't even know him!" When the other five laughed at her response, she sighed in defeat and tried to finish the rest of her lunch. When she was finished, Sora stood up with his tray in his hands.

"Ready to go?" She nodded, and followed him towards a metal rack, where they slid in their trays. Sora kissed Kairi goodbye (Naminé remembered to turn away when he did this) before leaving with Naminé and Hayner to the Arts Wing.

"Why is English in the _Arts_ Wing?" Sora asked as they exited the student centre; his eyes glanced upwards towards the clear autumn sky and he placed his hands behind his head. "It's not an art…"

"Technically it is," Naminé giggled, "Since there's some creativity involved, like when you write stories and poems and such."

"Smart answer," Hayner praised, and the girl flushed in embarrassment.

The classroom looked nearly exactly the same as the previous two, except that the posters on the bulletin boards had information relating to English rather than Math or History. Naminé had the teacher sign her slip as usual, and she trotted back to where Sora and Hayner were sitting.

"Hey," Said Sora, "Didn't you say Roxas was in both of your morning classes?"

"Er, yeah," Naminé raised en eyebrow, "Why?" When she noticed that Sora's eyes were staring towards the doorway her own widened in horror. "Oh no," She murmured, "Are you serious?"

Beside her, Hayner chuckled. _"Dead_ serious."

"Hey Roxas," Sora waved casually. Naminé stared at him with a _what-are-you-doing _expression painted all over her face, and he shrugged his shoulders. "What, I can't say hi to my own brother?"

Roxas wordlessly nodded towards his brother before taking his seat; Naminé could feel his eyes boring holes into the back of her head. Darn it, Kairi was right.

Class started, thankfully enough, and Naminé turned around in her seat to face the front of the class. She made the effort to concentrate fully on the lecture so she could forget about the person at the back who could not seem to keep his eyes off her, but she failed miserably. Her knuckles were white as they gripped the edge of her desk, and her stomach was jittery with nervousness; what was Roxas' problem? Did he not know that staring was rude?

"Naminé," She heard Sora whisper, "Class is over."

"Huh?" She snapped out of her reverie and noticed that the students were all getting up from their desks. She unhooked her bag and stood up so quickly she nearly knocked over her chair. "Oh, right - we've got Gym now, correct?"

The brunet grinned and nodded. "That's right."

"I'll see you guys after school!" Hayner waved goodbye before rushing off to his last class. Naminé and Sora made their way down the stairs and out the building, circling around and heading towards the back of campus. There was another Baroque-style building, along with a gigantic soccer field lined with bleachers and tall stadium lights; in the distance there was a lake and a few tennis courts. Beyond all that was a thick line of evergreen trees.

"You guys have everything here." She shook her head amusedly. Sora chuckled and rubbed the back of his head.

"I guess," He smiled as he opened the door for her. There was a small hallway and another set of doors that led to the large gym. The wall on the right was a large window that exposed the indoor swimming pool; on the left there was a window on the second floor that showed the weight room.

"This really is a gym," Naminé muttered to herself as she moved to sit on the polished floor with Sora. There were already a few students sitting there; a burly man sporting a pair of aviators was looming over them with his arms crossed. The blonde instantly remembered the slip of paper in her bag. "Oh!" She grabbed it and hastily made her way to the man.

"Ah, Naminé Hinomoto," Her Gym teacher smirked as he signed her paper, "Nice to meet you - I'm Mr. Tanaka. I trust you've been enjoying your first day at Brighton?"

Roxas' face appeared before her for a split second, but she shook it off. "Er, yeah, I have. Thanks." She scurried back to where Sora was sitting, only to notice that he was talking to somebody else; he had shaggy blond hair and bright blue eyes.

"Hey Naminé," Sora gestured to the stranger, "This is Tidus."

"Hiya," Tidus waved cheerily, and Naminé waved back.

"Well, well," Mr. Tanaka laughed, and everyone turned around to see who he was speaking to. Roxas had appeared, and he was rolling his eyes. "Look at what we have here. S'been awhile, Katsura."

Roxas only gave his teacher a sly smirk before dropping to the floor. Sora gave Naminé a similar smirk.

"Well, isn't that strange? You're in all of his classes." He whispered; she could still hear the grin in his voice.

"Shut up," Naminé grumbled; she could feel his twin's stare on her back again, and she hugged herself self-consciously.

Aside from Math, Gym was one of her worst subjects; being coordinately challenged anything that involved excess movement was considered a hazard to her. Luckily, since today was the first day they were not going to do anything, but Mr. Tanaka informed them that they were going to start tomorrow with 'something easy' - badminton.

"It's not that hard," Sora laughed as they left the PA Wing after class, "All you do is hit a little birdie with a racket that hardly weighs a thing."

"Easy for you to say," The blonde grumbled, shouldering her bag, "You've been gifted with something called hand-eye coordination."

"But don't you need that to draw and stuff? Kairi told me you were a great artist."

"That's different." They approached the SS Wing, where both of their lockers were. Kairi was already waiting by Naminé's.

"Hey guys," She greeted happily, "How was English and Gym?"

"You'll never believe this, Kairi," Sora snorted; Naminé glared at him but he continued on, "Roxas is in _all_ of Naminé's classes!"

Kairi's eyes were wide and her mouth was half-open. "No way!" Soon she was laughing along with her boyfriend. "That's amazing. This obviously has to be some sort of sign."

"No," Naminé muttered in frustration as she opened her new locker, "It doesn't mean anything. So what if he's in all my classes? And like Sora said - he's most likely not going to show up much after today."

The brunet's shoulders sagged in disappointment. "Oh yeah...you're right."

Kairi gave the both of them a teasing wink. "Who knows - maybe you'll change his mind, Nami."

_"Kairi!"_ Naminé wailed as her two friends burst out into another round of laughter. Kairi eventually calmed down when her phone rang.

"Oh, alright. We'll be there soon." She flipped her phone to a close and waved it in front of her cousin and boyfriend. "Hayner and them are waiting outside by the student centre. Shall we?"

Naminé nodded. "Yeah, I have to bring my slip thingy back to the office anyway."

The three walked out into the crisp afternoon air; students were now clumped together in groups, chatting animatedly about their day. Some were riding around on bikes, rollerblades and skateboards. Everything looked so _perfect -_ even television could not replicate something like this. Naminé quickly excused herself for a minute to return her slip, and then raced back outside to join everybody.

"Hey guys!" Olette was waving towards them; her and the other two boys were sitting on the steps leading to the student centre.

"Hey Olette," Kairi glanced at Naminé out of the corner of her eye, and the blonde sighed. "Guess what?"

"Hm?"

"Roxas is in _all_ of Naminé's classes!"

Olette and Pence gaped at the poor blonde while Hayner suppressed a snort. Naminé groaned and smacked her forehead with the heel of her palm.

"It's not that big of a deal, you know…"

"She does have a point there," Pence pointed out, and she inwardly thanked him for having at least _one_ person on her side, "He'll most likely never show up after today."

"I dunno…" Kairi tapped her chin with her finger, "I have a feeling things are gonna be different from now on, now that Naminé's around…"

A loud car horn blared into everyone's ears, causing them to jump in surprise. They all turned towards the curb, where a shiny, dark grey car was waiting.

Hayner let out a low whistle. "BMW M6. Nice."

Kairi suddenly burst out in laughter; Naminé's head snapped towards her with one eyebrow raised. "What? What is it?"

"The signs just keep coming," The redhead sighed, wiping her eyes.

Sora hoisted his bag over his shoulder and kissed Kairi on the cheek. "It's Roxas, Naminé," The mention of his brother's name made the blonde's cheeks flare up. "I'll see you guys tomorrow!" He bounded down the steps and disappeared inside the passenger's seat of the nice car. Naminé caught a glimpse of dirty blonde spikes before Sora slammed the door shut.

"Sora's really gotta get his license," Kairi mumbled, "Roxas is getting tired of driving him everywhere."

Naminé spun around to face her cousin. "You talk to him?"

The redhead eyed her skeptically. "Eager, aren't you?" Naminé huffed, and Kairi laughed. "Sometimes, yes, when he's not running around causing trouble for the establishment. He's not as bad as everybody thinks he is - think of him as a quieter Sora."

The black Maybach strolled up to the curb right on cue, and Kairi grabbed her cousin's wrist, pulling her towards it. "Bye guys," Naminé managed to wave to her new friends before climbing inside the car.

"So how was your first day, Miss Naminé?" Takai's voice could be heard from the little opening above the flat screen television.

"It went fine," She replied as she buckled her seatbelt, "Classes aren't so bad, but I'm kinda dreading Gym." She sank into her seat, imagining the kinds of disasters that would most likely happen tomorrow.

"It still amazes me how you can be so perfect when you're doing anything art related, yet when someone hands you a ball, a bat or a racket you're all over the place." Kairi shook her head; Takai was laughing from the driver's seat. "You're lucky you've got Sora and Tidus - they're pro with anything athletic."

Naminé flushed. "I can't help it." She mumbled pathetically.

Kairi leaned in a little bit to add in a much lower voice, "Roxas is pretty athletic too, you kno-_ow!"_ Naminé had smacked her in the arm to shut her up.

Ten minutes later the car pulled into the cobblestone roundabout of the Hinomoto manor; Takai helped the girls out like he usually did, and the both of them thanked him before making their way inside.

"Girls!" Ryo appeared out of nowhere, startling Naminé. Kairi stood stock still, her smile still evident. "How was your first day?"

"Fine," The both of them answered; Kairi was a little more energetic whereas Naminé sounded somewhat monotonous. Ryo did not seem to notice, however, and he chuckled.

"I'm glad you're liking it so far, Naminé. I don't want to keep you, so I'll be heading off now. See you at dinner!"

"So what do you want to do now?" Kairi asked once her dad left, "First day of school and we've got no homework."

Naminé tugged on her hair. "Um, I have to call my parents first…"

"Oh right - okay, you go do that then." Kairi began to make her way towards the marble staircase. "When you're finished, though, come to my room!"

The blonde laughed and moved to follow her. "Alright."

The first thing Naminé did when she entered her room was change out of her uniform; she pulled on a thin white t-shirt and a pair of jeans. Uniforms...what was their purpose anyway? To make one look like a dork? She belly-flopped on her bed and reached for the cordless phone. Her mother picked up after only two rings.

"Hello?"

"Mom!" Naminé cried; it was comforting to hear her mother's voice again.

"Oh, Naminé! How was your first day?"

The blonde barreled forward with her explanation; she told her mother about her new room and the art studio Kairi prepared for her. She explained how Brighton Academy had five buildings, and how the desks had hooks on the side for her bag. She spoke about Sora, Hayner, Pence and Olette and the classes she had. She briefly contemplated whether or not she should talk about Roxas, but she decided it was best not to.

"Sounds like you're liking your new school, honey." Ayame sounded relieved. She should be; at least she knew now that she was not wasting her money. "And that was a very nice thing for Kairi to do - you should thank her somehow."

"Yeah, I've been meaning to get her back on it but I have no idea what to do." Naminé twisted her hair around her finger. "I guess I'll have to think about it some more."

"Anyway, I have to go and run some errands before dinner. Your father and I are very proud of you, Naminé, and we're happy that you're liking Brighton." The smile in Ayame's voice was not hard to hear. "We'll be sure to call you soon!"

"Okay Mom," Naminé grinned, "It was nice talking to you. I love you - and tell Dad that I love him too!"

Ayame laughed. "I will, and we both love you very much. Bye now."

There was a click, and the line went flat. Naminé placed the phone back in its dock and rolled off the bed. Her bare feet padded against the soft carpet as she walked out of her room. She raised a fist to knock it against Kairi's door, but just as her knuckles were inches away from the smooth wood it opened, revealing her redheaded cousin dressed in capris and a t-shirt.

"H-how did you know-" Naminé's eyes were confused. Kairi giggled and covered her hand with her mouth.

"Come on," She pulled her by the wrist and led her inside. Kairi's room was similar to Naminé's, except that the walls were a pale pink and there were posters of singers and bands all over. If Kairi had all the grace in the family, then Naminé had the neatness - numerous pieces of clothing were lying carelessly all over the carpeted floor, and some were even hanging off her bed and desk chair. A large stereo was resting against the wall in between her desk and bookcase, and it was playing some kind of sappy rock song.

"You don't clean up much, do you?" Naminé asked wryly as she sat on the edge of the unmade bed. Kairi shook her head and absently kicked at a pair of jeans.

"Nah, and I don't want to put the maids through hell by cleaning up this black hole of a place, so I tell them to leave it alone." She flopped on the bed beside her cousin, placing her hands behind her head. "So how do you like Brighton so far?"

"It's really nice," Naminé answered honestly, "Everything just seems so perfect. The atmosphere, the people...it's so movie material." Her hand reached for her hair. "Hayner, Pence, Olette and Sora are really nice too. Do they all live in this area?"

Kairi nodded. "Well, Hayner and Pence actually live downtown. The other two, though, live not so far away." She rolled on her stomach and glanced upwards at the blonde. "Some of the students here aren't actually 'high class'-" She made quotation marks with her fingers, "-they just have the money to afford the tuition."

"Like those seniors Roxas was hanging out with?" Naminé found it kind of hard to imagine members of a notorious street gang living in a high end McMansion.

"Ah, so you _do_ want to know more about him!"

Naminé rolled her eyes. "Okay, so what if I do? When someone tells you that somebody in your class is part of a gang, wouldn't you be curious too?"

Kairi sighed, defeated. "Fine, fine...you win this round. You're right, by the way - those guys you saw with Roxas during lunchtime all live in the city. Sora told you that they're called The XIII, right?" Naminé nodded and the redhead continued. "They're called The XIII because there are only thirteen members, and they all have names with x's in them. Kinda cool, if you think about it."

"Really?"

"Yep - there's Roxas," Kairi began to count on her fingers, "Demyx, the guy who dropped his lasagna, Axel, the redheaded dude with stuff under his eyes, Larxene, the girl, and Zexion, the moody looking one. Those are the youngest members and the only ones attending school. The older ones, I think their names are Luxord, Lexaeus, Xaldin, Xigbar, Vexen, Marluxia, Saïx and Xemnas, the leader."

Naminé's brow furrowed. "Interesting. You sure seem to know a lot about them." She lowered onto the bed, lying right beside Kairi. "Why did Roxas decide to move with his dad? Didn't he want to stay close to his brother?"

Kairi smirked. "Well, I _am _dating the brother of a member. I don't think he had much of a choice - they were around four or so when their parents separated. I don't really know much of the story but I heard the divorce wasn't a pretty one. I remember Sora telling me once that his dad was sick of the upper class society and he didn't want his sons to get sucked into it, so he tried winning them over in a custody battle. He only ended up with Roxas in the end."

The blonde's face fell. "That's so sad."

Her cousin nodded in agreement. "Yeah. Roxas and his dad moved to the city, where he met Axel and the others. When it was time for high school both of his parents agreed that he needed a better education, so that's how he ended up back here. He and Sora are supposed to be visiting their dad this summer, though."

"What a life." Naminé sighed and brushed her bangs away from her face. The sappy song playing softly from the radio ended and an equally sappy sounding one began. "When he first came into History the girls were practically swooning over him, but the guys didn't look so thrilled."

Kairi laughed. "Well if you were a guy, wouldn't you be a bit peeved that all the girls in school are paying attention to someone that wasn't you?" She grabbed a pillow and stuffed it underneath her head. "Surprisingly enough, though, he hasn't really gone out with anybody."

This caused Naminé's eyes to widen. "Really?"

Her cousin raised an eyebrow. "Yes, shocking isn't it?" Naminé flushed, and Kairi burst out in laughter. "Well, now that I think about it, he sorta had a girlfriend once."

"Who was it?"

"Olette." Naminé almost fell off the bed when Kairi mentioned their friend's name. "It's kind of a cute story, really; Roxas would always stay over at his mom's during the summertime, so they only had two months together every year. It was that whole summer romance thing, and it went on for at least two or so years before the both of them realized that it was just too hectic to hold together - plus Roxas was always running off with The XIII, and that really worried her."

Naminé's fingers pulled through her hair. "He's really dedicated to that gang, isn't he?"

Kairi smiled sadly. "Well, y'know what they say - _bros before hoes."_

"You're ridiculous." Naminé reached for a pillow and playfully smacked Kairi in the face. Both cousins snorted with laughter, and soon an all out pillow fight erupted between the two girls. They bounced around Kairi's room dodging pillows, both full with the giggles. Fifteen minutes later they were sitting on the floor with their backs against the edge of Kairi's bed.

Kairi sighed and threw her arms around her cousin. "I'm so glad you're here; you make life more interesting."

Naminé smiled as she leaned to rest her head on the redhead's shoulder. "I'm glad I'm here too."

Kairi giggled softly. "You should be - if you weren't, you wouldn't have met the enigma that is Roxas Katsura." Naminé glanced upwards to glare at her, but the redhead shrugged it off. "Don't look at me like that; you're intrigued, admit it!"

"Only because he's your boyfriend's twin brother." The blonde muttered stubbornly.

"I never knew you were into rebels."

"You're lucky the pillow's too far for me to reach."

There was a quiet, polite knock behind Kairi's door. "Excuse me, Miss Kairi and Miss Naminé?" A shy feminine voice could be heard from the other side.

"Yes?" Both girls perked up at the mention of their names.

"I'm here to inform you that dinner should be ready in half an hour or so."

"Okay," Kairi replied, "Thanks!" She released her hold on Naminé and began to crawl around the piles of clothes scattered about the floor. "Hm...what to wear, what to wear…"

"I don't get why we have to dress up for dinner, especially when there isn't anybody to look good for." Naminé pulled on her hair as she watched Kairi rifle through a few wrinkled shirts. The blonde ducked, narrowly avoiding a tank top that her cousin had tossed away.

"I don't get it either, but I like dressing up so I don't really mind." The redhead sat back and tucked her hair behind her ears. "You should find something to wear too."

Naminé giggled. "It won't take me as long as you - I've put my closet to good use."

"Ha-ha." A pair of shorts was tossed into the blonde's face.

--

_A/N: The sappy rock song Kairi had on her stereo was _Tired and Uninspired _by My American Heart, and the second song was _Learning to Breathe _by Switchfoot. At least that's how I pictured it. Did you have any different ones in mind?_


	4. BADminton

_A/N: Teasing Sora is so fun!_

--

**BADminton.**

Naminé seemed more nervous on her second day of school than her first, probably because today was the day she was going to show her new classmates just how horrible she was in Gym.

"You can't be _that_ bad, can you?" Kairi asked her on the ride to school; the blonde sighed and buried her face in her hands.

"I broke a guy's arm last year by accident." Naminé mumbled miserably.

Her cousin's eyes widened. _"What?_ What the heck did you do?"

"I accidentally knocked into him and he fell." The blonde sighed through her fingers.

"What were you doing?"

"...Rock climbing. I thought my harness was a little loose, so I turned around and tried to tighten it, but I accidentally let go of both of the rock thingies and I swung right into him." The car pulled into the roundabout; Sora, Hayner, Pence and Olette were sitting on the steps to the student centre. "Why, oh _why_ do we have to take Gym every year?"

"Because the rating for child obesity is getting higher and higher." Kairi replied as Takai opened the door and helped them out. "Thank you."

"Don't over-think, Miss Naminé," Takai smiled serenely. "I'm pretty sure you'll do fine."

The blonde tugged at her hair. "Don't over-think. Right. Thanks, Takai."

"Why so glum, Naminé?" Pence asked once the two girls approached him and the others.

"She's afraid that her shoddy coordination will cause the death of an innocent student today." Kairi smirked as Naminé hung her head in shame. Sora clapped her on the back for comfort.

"Aw, don't worry about it - I'll make sure you won't kill anybody."

"That sort of makes me feel better, thanks." Naminé smiled grimly.

"Well, we better head to class." Kairi was checking the time with her phone. "I'll see you at lunch!"

"C'mon, Naminé. You should put your gym stuff in your locker first." Sora jerked his head towards the SS Wing and she followed him wordlessly after waving goodbye to everybody else.

"I see you didn't run to school today." The blonde grinned cheekily.

"Nope." Sora grinned back, rubbing the back of his head.

"So does that mean Roxas is here?" She flushed afterwards; she sounded so desperate. They reached her locker and she carelessly threw the drawstring bag holding her gym uniform and shoes inside; it thunked against the wall and dropped to the bottom.

The brunet frowned. "I got a ride today, but not from him. Like I said before, he only shows up on the first day, and then he just pops in every now and then."

For some reason Naminé felt disappointed. "Oh. Okay then."

Sora raised an eyebrow. "Why?"

His question caught her off guard. "I...I really don't know."

She sat in the same seat she sat in yesterday. She dumped her bag on the floor, but then quickly remembered the hook and picked it up immediately, hoping nobody saw. Her thoughts randomly wandered over to Roxas and she wondered if he was going to show up today, but Sora did point out that he did not get a ride from him. She slumped in her seat; why did she feel sad? She did not even know the guy!

"Hinomoto, Naminé." Mr. Watanabe was doing roll call. The blonde shook out of her reverie and raised her hand.

"H-here!" When he nodded towards her, she sighed and relaxed in her seat again. She already slipped up today with the hook thing, and Gym was a guaranteed disaster; she had to look as normal as possible before then.

"Katsura, Roxas." No reply. Figures.

Minutes later there was the sound of hurried footsteps. "Here."

Naminé immediately spun around in her seat to face the door, where she saw Sora's twin brother; he was heaving from lack of breath and his shoulders were rising and falling. Everybody including Mr. Watanabe looked as shocked as she was. Roxas did not seem to care, however, and casually strolled over to his usual desk at the back row.

"Surprise, surprise. Two days in a row - you were never this punctual last year, Mister Katsura." The students snickered, and Roxas only smirked back as he tossed his leather book bag onto his desk. Naminé instantly returned her gaze to the blackboard, in fear that their eyes would meet again. She still felt his stare on her shoulder blades, however.

_Who knows - maybe you'll change his mind, _Kairi's voice was ringing in her head; the poor blonde tried shaking it off but the voice only got louder. She would have been anticipating the end of class if only he was not in _all_ her classes.

_It's only coincidence that he decided to show up the day after - watch, after today you'll hardly ever see him again. Maybe once a week. Once a month. _She tried convincing herself but it was no use; Kairi's voice was louder than hers, even in her head.

"Don't forget to read the first ten pages of the first chapter in your textbooks tonight - oh, and make notes!" Mr. Watanabe reminded the class after what seemed like years later. Naminé hastily scribbled down the homework in her agenda and stuffed it in her bag; she walked as quickly as she could without making it look suspicious.

Roxas _really_ needed to stop staring.

"Staring _again?_ Well, I bet this class won't be much of a difference." Kairi smirked during Math; Naminé groaned and pressed her forehead against her desk. "He's gonna _love_ you during Gym, with the shorts and the fitting shirt…"

The blonde immediately sat up. _"Kairi!" _She hissed just as Roxas walked into class, "Gym's already going to be a nightmare - don't make this any worse!"

"What?" The redhead blinked back innocently, "It's not like I'm the one doing the staring."

Naminé groaned and thumped her head back on her desk. "Ugh, you're right."

"You should talk to him. He's not that bad of a guy, and he's in all of your classes - you can't avoid him forever." Kairi suggested as she bent over to pull her pencil case out of her bag.

Naminé's eyes narrowed. "Yes I can. Watch." She flipped her hair over her shoulder and turned to face the front of the class. Kairi sighed and rolled her eyes.

Class went by agonizingly slow, just like homeroom, and having Roxas' eyes on Naminé's back the entire time did not help either, so it was relieving to feel the cool autumn wind billowing against her face as her and Kairi made their way to the student centre.

"I think he wants to talk to you, but he's too shy to say anything." Kairi prodded, and Naminé shook her head stubbornly.

"I'm _not_ talking to him, okay? Just drop it already!" The blonde slapped her own forehead with the heel of her palm. "And if he wants to talk to me, he could've done it yesterday in homeroom, or the other three classes that we have together, or just a few minutes ago when we still had class."

"Geez, what do you have against the guy? I told you he isn't as bad as everybody thinks he is."

"Well for one thing, that whole staring business is really ticking me off." The blonde pulled frustratingly at her hair. "It's creepy and rude!"

Kairi rolled her eyes. "I'm telling you, he wants to-"

The sound of screeching tires drowned her out, and both cousins turned their heads towards the roundabout to see where it was coming from. A beat up looking truck with peeling paint was squealing around the corner with heavy, angry music blaring out of the open windows. Naminé squinted and found Axel behind the driver's seat, laughing uncontrollably and twisting the wheel left and right. Larxene was in shotgun with a simper stretched across her lips; Naminé caught a faint glimpse of Zexion sitting behind them.

"STOP DOING THAT! I'M GONNA FALL OFF!" Demyx screamed over the gritty electric guitars; he was sitting out in the back, clinging onto the cab for dear life.

"It's your fault for not sitting inside with us!" Larxene hollered out of her window. She leaned out a little more to stare at something at the back of the truck. "Hey, how're you holding up?"

The truck veered sharply to the left, giving Naminé and Kairi a perfect view of who Larxene was speaking to. Roxas was on a skateboard, holding onto the back of the truck. As dangerous as it looked, he was grinning like a child. The wind was pushing his blond spikes back and his tie was flapping behind him. He released one hand and gave Larxene the thumbs up.

"Wow, all five of them are at school today? Two days in a row - that's a miracle." Kairi laughed. Naminé's eyes did not stray away from the blond on the skateboard.

"Does he always do stupid things like that?" She asked worriedly.

"The twins in general do stupid things." Kairi laughed again and reached for her cousin's wrist. "Don't worry, I'm pretty sure you'll see him in English - oh, and Gym too!"

"Thanks for reminding me," Naminé mumbled as they walked into the student centre.

"Oh, so he _is_ at school today." Sora scratched the back of his head; Kairi had just explained what she and Naminé saw outside. "He went out late last night and didn't come home, so I had no idea."

"What?" Naminé nearly dropped her fork and ignored the strange looks Kairi, Olette, Hayner and Pence were giving her, "He just ran off?"

"Sometimes he disappears for a few days," The brunet explained before taking a large, sloppy bite of his sub; Kairi rolled her eyes as he gulped it down. "But he's never been out longer than three or four days. He always comes back."

"Doesn't your mom worry?" Pence asked, and Naminé was relieved he did; she was about to do it herself, but she realized that she had been worrying over a stranger, and it was beginning to make her look weird - at least that was what she thought.

Sora shrugged and took a swig of his pop. "Yeah, and I do too, but what can we do about it? It's hard to hold him down, figuratively and literally."

"Well, maybe you should get someone stronger to help you out," Kairi teased, "You're too much of a pansy to stand against Roxas."

Sora's cheeks reddened as Hayner and Pence burst out in laughter. "I am _not_ a pansy!"

Kairi giggled and pecked her boyfriend on the cheek. "Believe what you want to believe. You know I can kick your butt - I already have!"

Thankfully the rest of lunch consisted of Hayner and Kairi teasing Sora, so it rid Naminé's thoughts of Roxas for the moment. They all came rushing back, however, when she saw him walking into English with a new band-aid on the side of his head; the skin around it was raw and pink.

"Roxas," Sora called; Naminé instinctively lowered her head onto her desk, but she made sure she was still able to see from the corner of her eye. Hayner only chuckled and shook his head.

The blond turned around to face his brother, and his expression softened. He looked so vulnerable; it made Naminé want to reach out and comfort him somehow. "Sora," His voice was nearly identical to his brother's, only huskier and a little deeper, "Sorry for not coming home last night. Mom was probably worried sick."

"Of course she was," Sora spat; being angry did not suit him. "You know she always worries about you when you run off like that!" His head lowered and his eyes dropped to his shoes. "And...I worry too."

Naminé heard a couple of footsteps; Roxas had moved to stand in between her desk and Sora's. She could faintly smell cologne. "Sorry bro," He said, his tone guilty, "I'm coming home today, I promise. After school. I'll pick you up."

Sora stood up and pulled his brother into a one-armed hug. "I'll be waiting, then." He grinned; Roxas' grin was almost exactly the same.

"Alright," The teacher's throaty voice caught everyone's attention and Roxas jogged back to his desk; the faint scent of cologne wafted into Naminé's nose again as he whirled around, the sides of his blazer brushing against her arms, "Turn to page 53…"

Like her previous two classes English went by just as slowly, and Roxas' eyes never left her back. Sora raced with her to their lockers after class to grab their change of clothes, and they managed to make it to the PA Wing just in time.

Naminé emerged from the change room, tugging at her plain white t-shirt with the school's athletic logo on the front. Kairi was right - this shirt _was_ a little fitting. At least the navy mesh shorts were not that short - they fell just above her knees. She was dreading this moment; she dragged herself into the gym, where Sora and a few other students were setting up the nets.

"Erm, need help?" The blonde asked pathetically, but then shook her head. "Actually, never mind. I don't want to screw up when class hasn't even started yet."

"You need to think higher of yourself, Naminé," Sora said as he helped Tidus with one of the nets, "I don't think you're as bad as you think you are."

"Wait until you give me a racket." She muttered under her breath as Mr. Tanaka strolled into the Gym, holding a clipboard. She felt someone's eyes on her from the corner of the room and she gauchely shuffled behind Sora, who was chuckling and shaking her head at her bashfulness. Mr. Tanaka went through roll call and a quick rundown of the rules, and Naminé listened half-heartedly; even if she knew the rules, an accident was still bound to happen.

"Alright, everybody clear on that? Divide yourselves up into doubles and we'll play ten minute games. At the sound of my whistle, rotate to the left so that you all get a chance to play with each other. Sound good?" Everybody nodded diligently. "Good, now get to it!"

"I'll be your partner, Naminé." Sora dashed somewhere to grab a couple of rackets. He tossed her one on his way back to her. "Catch!"

She held out her hands a split second too late and the racket clattered noisily on the wooden floor. A few heads turned in her direction and she flushed as she bent over to pick it up. "Great start." She muttered to herself.

Sora did not seem to mind that she did not catch it. "Looks like we're playing Tidus and Wakka first. C'mon!" He ran over to the nearest court, and she followed languidly. The match was as disastrous as she predicted; she missed the birdie almost every time it came to her, and when she did hit it, it would go flying in a completely different direction and one of the boys would have to run off to retrieve it.

"Don't feel so bad," Sora reassured her after she swung and missed for the umpteenth time, "Here, I got an idea: just run around and pretend you're enjoying this, and I'll do all the work. How's that sound?"

It sounded ridiculous, but at least running back and forth would not hurt anybody. She grinned and nodded. "As long as someone doesn't get hurt because of me, I'm game."

Sora served with perfect form and everything, and the game resumed. Naminé felt stupid following him around, pretending like she knew what she was doing, but she knew this was for the best. Her eyes searched the courts beside her, but she could not find Roxas.

"NAMINÉ!" Sora screamed, and she whipped around to stare at him. He was pointing upwards; the birdie was sailing overhead, already too far for him to catch up with it.

_I thought _you_ were going to do all the work! _She thought grudgingly as she began to jog backwards, tilting her head up so that she could see the birdie properly. She arched her arm, ready to swing…

"Whoa!" She collided hard into something - or someone - and tumbled straight onto the floor. A sharp pain shot up her ankle and she grimaced, gripping it tightly with her small hands. Tears sprang into her eyes and she felt stupider than when she was aimlessly running back and forth; she was such a crybaby.

"Are you okay?" Sora was crouching in front of her, peering at her ankle.

"I think I fell on it or something-" She turned around to see who she bumped into, and her eyes widened; Roxas was sitting not so far away, rubbing the back of his head. "-er, I'm sorry-"

"Don't mention it," He smiled sheepishly at her and her stomach felt like it was going to explode; he was so _cute._ "You look like you're in worse shape than I am, though." He stood up and held out his hand; she took it wordlessly and he pulled her up with ease. When she tried standing with both feet the same pain coursed back into her ankle and she stumbled backwards, but she felt an arm slip underneath her arms, supporting her. At first she thought it was Sora, but then the faint cologne smell wafted back into her nose and her cheeks began to heat up again.

"I think you better take her to the nurse," Sora suggested as soon as Mr. Tanaka arrived, "She probably sprained it."

"Good thinking, Katsura." Mr. Tanaka nodded, "You best bring her now before it gets any worse, er...Katsura."

"Will do," Roxas turned around and helped her out of the gym. She shyly wound her arm around his neck and hopped feebly beside him, feeling stupider and stupider. This was _not_ how she pictured their first interaction. "Is it bad?"

"To be honest with you," She cringed through the stabbing pain, "I've been through worse. Graceful isn't exactly the best word to describe me."

He chuckled, and she wanted to sigh at how perfect he sounded. "Really now - I would've imagined you to be graceful. Your cousin's into dancing, so I figured you wouldn't be that different."

"I don't think gracefulness is on my end of the gene pool."

He laughed again, and her blush worsened. "Good one." He pushed open the door to the nurse's office; a woman dressed in white was sitting behind a desk. "My friend here sprained her ankle - I think she needs to be sent home."

"Let's have a look, shall we?" The nurse and Roxas helped Naminé onto the cushioned bench; the thin paper crinkled underneath her. The nurse gently rotated her ankle, and she groaned in pain. "Hm, it's pretty swollen. You probably won't be able to walk on it properly for a couple of days. Just ice it, and be sure to put as less weight on it as you possibly can." She strode over to her desk and scribbled on some paper. "I'll be signing you out early so you can go home. Will you need to be signed out as well, Mister Katsura?"

The blond shook his head. "No, I'm only going to be taking her home. I'll be right back."

"Alright. Have a nice day, you two."

Naminé hopped off the bench a little too eagerly, and she toppled right into Roxas' arms. Feeling incredibly awkward and flustered, she tried to step back. "S-sorry-"

He threw his arm around her shoulders again and gently pulled her against his side. His cologne was overwhelming and her eyes threatened to close. "It's alright, Naminé," Her name, which she always detested, sounded beautiful on his lips, "Let's get you home."

He helped her all the way to the SS Wing (thankfully there was an elevator; she did not want to know how disastrous it would have been if they had to take the stairs) so she could get her things from her locker, and then he left her at the front of the building so he could get his car. Her collar faintly smelled like his cologne; she sniffed it and sighed.

How on earth did she used to think he was creepy and rude?

"Up we go," He was back in minutes; he hooked his hands underneath her arms and pulled her upwards, slipping his arm around her shoulders and helping her over to the purring BMW. Much like the Maybach, his car was sleek and covered in black leather, but it reeked of cigarettes; she eyed the half-full pack sitting on the dashboard.

"Sorry," He mumbled coyly, rolling down the windows. He switched the gears and the car inched forward.

"Yuck," She shook her head at the pack of cigarettes. He smirked out of the corner of her eye.

"I know it's a bad habit." He said demurely, running his hands through his spikes. Naminé rolled her eyes.

"If you know, then why don't you quit?"

He blinked at her. "Okay. I will."

It was her turn to blink. "W-what?" She began playing with her hands. "Just like that?"

He shrugged as he exited the roundabout. "Sure. I have to if I want to live longer, right?"

She raised an eyebrow. "Are you serious?"

He chuckled and his long fingers swept through his hair again. Suddenly he reached for the pack of cigarettes; with a quick flick of his wrist he tossed it out the window. He grinned at her as she gaped out the window, her eyes searching for the forgotten pack. "Convincing enough?"

She shook her head. "What if you have another pack lying around somewhere?"

"I don't, honest." He turned out of the long pathway, "You don't trust me?"

Naminé's blush returned, and her hands tightened into fists. "N-no - well...er," She stammered, "I m-mean...I hardly know you…"

Roxas nodded slowly. "True," He paused to switch lanes, "Okay, we'll make a deal, then. From now on, if you catch me with a cigarette-"

"I have the right to slap it out of your hands and lecture you on how it'll be the death of you, even if it's in front of all your friends," She interjected eagerly, "And if a week passes and I don't see you with one-"

"You'll go out with me next Friday." He sounded strangely calm.

Naminé's baby blues widened in shock. The pain in her ankle was completely forgotten as a new tingling sensation coursed through her, spreading to her fingers and toes. "W-what?"

"If I'm clean by next Tuesday, I'll take you out." He turned to smile at her, and the tingly feeling increased tenfold. He rolled his window down some more and leaned outward. "Roxas Katsura - I'm dropping Naminé off early today; she sprained her ankle in Gym."

"Er," She struggled for words as the gate to the Hinomoto manor opened, "Uh-"

"Were you always this articulate?" He laughed, and her cheeks flared up. He drove right to the front of the mansion; through the tinted window she saw Geoffrey emerging from the double doors. "I'll take that as a yes."

"Y-yes," She mumbled as Geoffrey opened the door, "It's a yes."

"See you tomorrow?" Roxas' dark blue eyes were locked on her ankle.

"Of course," She said as Geoffrey helped her out, "This isn't going to stop me - wait, I thought you never go to class."

He laughed and the tingly feeling came back. "If I never go to class, how will you check up on me? See you, then."

"See you." She breathed as Geoffrey shut the door. The dark grey BMW immediately zoomed around the roundabout and through the gates. Behind her, Geoffrey wrinkled his nose.

"Hmph, sixteen and already a smoker? Disappointing." After slinging Naminé's bags over his shoulder he helped the poor blonde into the mansion. "He should be more like his brother."

"You know Sora and Roxas?" She glanced up at the older man.

Geoffrey chuckled and nodded. _"Everybody's _heard of the Katsura twins. Their parents' divorce was highly publicized, and Roxas' antics never go unheard, especially in this neighbourhood. Unfortunate how he spends most of his time running around with those hoodlums instead of concentrating on more important matters - school, for instance." He sighed when they reached the the marble staircase. "This is going to be a long trip."

"He's not that bad," Naminé muttered obdurately as Geoffrey practically dragged her up the stairs. It was a good ten minutes before the pair finally reached the second floor; when they reached her door she assured him that she was able to do everything else on her own.

"I'll be back in a bit to bring you some ice, and I'll have to inform your aunt and uncle." Geoffrey wiped the sweat from his forehead and handed her bags back.

"Sorry for bringing you so much trouble, and thanks for helping me up the stairs." Naminé flushed, tugging on her hair.

"It's my pleasure, Miss Naminé. Now, that ice…" He shuffled down the hallway and made his way back down the stairs, his shoes clopping against the shiny marble floor.

Naminé hobbled into her room, closing the door behind her. She stared at her bed, but then she realized that she was going to be dead bored unless she had something to do, so she dropped her bags, dragged herself into the studio, grabbed a sketchbook and some pencils, and limped back into the main room, where she collapsed on her bed. She crawled under the sheets, figuring she'll change later, and flipped open her sketchbook. She tapped her chin with the end of her pencil, wondering what to draw. Seconds later she pressed her pencil to her paper and began to sketch quickly. Five minutes into her drawing she stopped, realizing that she was drawing Roxas; the untidy spikes and mischievous grin gave it away.

The conversation they had in his car replayed in her head and she felt her cheeks warming up again; was he serious about the whole taking-her-out-next-Friday thing?

She was about to scrub her sketch away with her eraser when her phone rang. Naminé groaned, crawling to the end of her bed and leaning over to grab her bag that was sitting on the floor. She received a text message from Kairi:

_ROXAS DROVE U HOME?! details when i get back, plz!!! o and i hope ur ankle doesnt hurt that bad._

Sighing in defeat, Naminé crawled back to her sketchbook and placed her phone on her nightstand. There really was no hiding anything from Kairi. She had at least forty-five minutes before her cousin came home, so she decided to continue with sketching.

Roxas was smirking up at her from her sketchbook, and she cried out in aggravation, running through his face with her eraser.

_--_

_A/N: The song blasting out of Axel's truck was _96 Quite Bitter Beings _by CKY._


	5. Let's Play A Game

**Let's Play a Game.**

"Wow," Kairi gaped for the third time.

Naminé pressed the ice pack against her reddened ankle and nodded. "I know." She tugged on her hair with her free hand. "Do you think he's serious?"

"He has to be!" The redhead exclaimed, "It would be some kind of sick joke if he wasn't. I should ask Sora to talk to him…"

"Oh, don't do that," Naminé moaned. She removed the ice pack from her ankle and tried rotating it; the swelling had died down, but it still hurt a bit. "He even said that he was gonna be in class just so I can check up on him."

Kairi wiggled her eyebrows playfully. "Oh really?" She snickered as Naminé narrowed her eyes. "He never made promises like that to Olette."

Naminé's eyes shifted to her lap and her cheeks flushed a light pink. "Were him and Olette…" She fluttered her hands, trying to find the right words, "Like...were they _together_ together? Did they do any couple stuff?"

"Maybe you should ask Olette." Kairi briefly bounced off the bed to turn on Naminé's computer; she booted up the music player and began to play a even-paced song with a catchy bass line. "Remind me to tell Geoffrey to get a stereo in here."

"Er, I don't know if it's right to ask her," Naminé pulled harder on her hair, "It isn't...is it?"

The redhead shrugged. "I don't think she'd mind. It's Olette - she's one of the nicest people I've ever met. Plus, she knew that whatever she had with Roxas wasn't gonna last long - she was fine after the 'breakup'." She made quotation marks with her fingers, "She's happier with Hayner, anyway."

_"Hayner?" _Naminé's eyes widened, "They don't look like they're going out."

"Olette likes to keep things low-key," Kairi smiled, "She's very shy when it comes to stuff like that - even shyer than you. Not a lot of people know about the thing she had with Roxas."

"Oh." There was a knock at her door. "Yes?"

"Miss Naminé," It was Geoffrey. "Your crutches are here."

The blonde nearly fell off her bed. _"Crutches?" _She shook her head, her tendrils of platinum blonde flipping around her shoulders, "It's not like my leg is broken or anything!"

"Yes, but you need help walking, and that's what crutches are for, regardless of whether your leg is broken or not."

Kairi hopped off the bed and skipped towards the door. "I'll get it for you, Nami."

Naminé groaned and flopped backwards on her bed, her hands covering her face. She heard Kairi close the door. "I don't need crutches." She muttered stubbornly.

"Yes you do," Kairi rested the dreaded things against the side of the bed and crawled over to her cousin, sitting beside her and looking over her with concerned eyes, "I'm not dragging you around from class to class. Maybe Roxas can, since you guys have the same classes and all-"

_"Please_ don't start that again," Naminé sighed, "I am well aware of the fact that Roxas and I have the same classes this semester." She gingerly rolled over on her stomach, grimacing at the dull throbbing in her ankle. "This is just great; the new kid in school gets hurt on her second day here because she sucks at sports, and now she has to hobble from building to building with _those-"_ She nodded to the metal crutches, "-stupid things. I never asked for attention."

"I know you never did, but somehow you've got Roxas' even _before_ you screwed up in Gym." Before Naminé opened her mouth to protest, Kairi held up a hand. "Don't even _think _of saying anything - because of your lack of coordination you've got a chance to go out with him next Friday. Whoever knew that clumsiness would get you so far?"

"Well, I can only go out with him next Friday if I don't catch him smoking." The blonde scratched her head. "Sure, I can keep an eye on him during school...but what if he's smoking right now, or like...this weekend?"

"We'll hang out this weekend," Kairi suggested, much to Naminé's surprise, "I'll talk to Sora. Maybe we can have a double date."

"It won't _be_ a double date-"

"Fine, I'll ask Pence and the others to come too." The redhead rolled her eyes and plucked her phone out of her pocket. "You're such a killjoy, Nami."

"Wouldn't Roxas be too busy with that gang of his to hang out on the weekend?" Naminé reached for the ice pack and pressed it against her ankle once more; she sighed as the freezing temperature relieved her of the annoying aching.

Kairi wiggled her eyebrows again. "Oh, trust me, he'll come. As long as you're involved he'd ditch anything."

Naminé whipped a pillow at her.

--

"Why are they all staring at me like that?" Naminé grumbled.

"'Cause you're the new kid, and you're using crutches?" Kairi suggested. Math had just finished and the pair were making their way towards the student centre. The morning had been horrible; she fell in the shower twice and Kairi had to help her into her uniform. History was dreadful as well since it was the first class of the day, and nearly everybody in class gave her an eyeful as she hobbled into the room. Roxas was the only one who did not - or at least tried not to - stare. To her disappointment, however, he stayed in his usual desk at the back row, not talking to her.

"I don't get why he's ignoring you," Kairi muttered as they entered the cafeteria, "After that whole conversation you had in his car I'd imagine him at least dropping by your desk to say hello or something."

Naminé shrugged as they made their way towards their usual table. "It's his decision."

"Who's?" Hayner asked as the girls sat down; Naminé blushed and Kairi burst into a fit of giggles.

"Roxas'," Kairi snorted, and Naminé's blush intensified. Hayner smirked and sipped from his pop.

"Oh, I heard about what happened yesterday."

Naminé groaned and pressed her head against the edge of the table. "Great. Who else has?" When Olette and Pence shyly raised their hands, she groaned again. "Ugh, now I'll be known as 'the new girl who sprained her ankle trying to play badminton'."

"Or 'the new girl who coincidentally bumped into the cute guy she has every class with and ended up spraining her ankle in the process'," Kairi giggled, and Olette joined in. Naminé sighed and kept her mouth shut; Kairi would only counter whatever else she would say anyway.

"Er, Naminé?" Sora leaned over Kairi to tap the blonde's shoulder. Naminé slowly lifted her head to look at him; he was nodding over to something over her shoulder.

"What is it-WAH!" She turned around and her face immediately turned beet red; Roxas was standing over her with his hands in his pockets and a smile on his face. A white plastic bag was hanging off his arm.

"Hello, Naminé," He was so close she could smell his cologne, "Care to have lunch with me today?"

Kairi nudged her cousin's elbow; Olette and Hayner were stifling their laughter as Naminé stood up slowly, grabbing her crutches along the way.

"Erm, okay." Roxas reached out and held her arms so she would be steady as she stood up. He quickly nodded to the group before leading the way out of the cafeteria. Naminé turned to look at the table he usually sat at, only to find it empty. "Where are your friends?"

Roxas ruffled his hair and slowed his pace a little so he would match up with her. "Ditched." The cool breeze skimmed their faces as they exited the building. He jerked his head over to the back, where the PA Wing was. "Think you can make it?"

It was a little far, but she shrugged her small shoulders. "Ah, we're gonna have Gym later on anyway, so I might as well get used to it."

When they reached the PA Wing Roxas pulled her over to the soccer field. He helped her onto the bleachers. "When the others ditch class and I'm the only one in school, I often come here."

"It's nice," Naminé commented, closing her eyes against the wind, "Quiet."

"That's the point." He grinned. He leaned back and stared up at the sky. "So you're not going to ask if I've smoked today?"

"Oh!" She turned around to face him. "Wait, even if I _do_ ask you can always lie."

He rumpled the back of his hair; the scent of his shampoo carried over to her and she sighed. "I won't."

Naminé raised an eyebrow. "Aren't you supposed to be all jittery and cranky from not having a smoke for so long? You're acting awfully calm for someone trying to quit cold turkey."

"Good observation." His eyes met hers, and her face felt like it was on fire. They looked so blue from up close - not even Sora's was as blue, and they were twins!

"So...you _did_ have a cigarette." She frowned.

"Nope." Her head tilted to the side in confusion, and he chuckled. "I found a substitute." He raised his arm, the one with the bag dangling from it. "Whenever I have a craving I take one of these instead."

She leaned in as far as she could without straining her sore ankle. "Marijuana? Coffee? That gum...what's it called..."

Roxas laughed and let the bag slip down his arm before opening it; he pulled out two popsicles. After getting rid of the wrappers he handed one to her. "Sea-salt ice cream." He licked at it and flashed her another enchanting smile. "It's been my favourite ever since I was a kid."

"I've seen Pence with one of these on the first day of school." She licked it and her face scrunched together. "It's so salty!" Immediately after, her face relaxed and her eyes widened. "...But sweet."

Roxas laughed. "That's the best part about it - you don't know whether to call it salty or sweet." He gestured over to the bag. "I don't think you've actually eaten lunch yet, so I brought a sandwich for you."

She flushed. "T-thanks," Her hand reached for her hair while the other waved the popsicle in front of his face. "I'll eat it after I finish this." She continued licking at her popsicle, watching Roxas out of the corner of her eye. He was staring at the soccer field, his face pensive. The wind billowed through his hair and ruffled his uniform; the sight was so heavenly, like something out of a cheesy romance movie.

He noticed her staring, and he turned his head to face her. "Are you cold? You're shaking."

Naminé's eyes widened and she shook her head. "No, it's probably just the pop-"

She froze as Roxas popped the popsicle into his mouth, freeing his hands. He leaned forward, shrugging out of his blazer and draping it over her shoulders. He patted the sides, pulled the lapels around her and leaned backwards, smirking and returning the popsicle to his hand. "There, much better."

The blazer smelled like his cologne and she suppressed the urge to sigh and stuff her face in it. "You're nicer than you look." She murmured, eyeing the bandages on his face, "Why do you do all those things anyway? I saw you yesterday on your skateboard."

He scratched the side of his head. "For the thrill, I guess. I like that feeling you get when you're about to do something dangerous; the rush of adrenaline surging through you and the way your heart pounds like it's going to explode...it's exhilarating. Plus you only live once."

She scoffed; she dumped her popsicle stick into the plastic bag and pulled out the sandwich. "Yeah, but if you only live once why are you risking everything by doing stupid things? Shouldn't you try and look for a _safer _way to enjoy life?"

"Hey, when is it my turn to ask the questions?" She flushed and her gaze lowered to her sandwich. Roxas ruffled his hair again and leaned forward, resting his arms on his knees. "Let's play a game." His voice was low and dangerous, and she found it oddly attractive.

Naminé looked up and nearly jumped out of her skin; their noses were inches apart, and she could smell the sea-salt ice cream in his breath. "W-what?"

He chuckled and pulled away, much to her disappointment. "We'll take turns asking questions, and the both of us have to answer it. We have to be as detailed as we possibly can, and we can pass questions if we want, but that means the both of us aren't answering it."

Her blush worsened and her eyes dropped back to her sandwich. "Uh-" She tugged on her hair, "-erm…can we ask about anything?"

He shrugged and chucked his popsicle stick into the plastic bag. "Sure. The only rule: the questions we ask have to apply to the both of us so we can answer them fairly."

Nervousness tickled her insides as she wondered what kind of questions he had in mind for her. "Um, okay. You ask the first question, since I asked you before."

The grin he was wearing only made her anxiousness worse. "Alright," He leaned forward again, but not as close as last time. "Where are you from?"

Naminé's hands balled into fists and she nearly squished her poor sandwich. "Hey, you said that we have to ask questions that apply to the _both_ of us! I already know where you're from!"

Roxas blinked. "No you don't."

"Yes I do - you lived in the city before."

"But you don't know which city." He smirked victoriously. Naminé groaned and smacked her forehead.

"Why does it even matter?"

"You still haven't answered my question."

Sighing in defeat, Naminé caved in. "I live in Twilight Town with my parents."

His head cocked to the side. "Oh? Whereabouts?"

"That's another question." She huffed in frustration before biting into her sandwich. She wondered if he made it himself; it was pretty good.

"Remember what I said about being detailed?"

She sighed again. "Sunset Hill."

He pulled his fingers through his hair and his shampoo wafted into her nostrils again. "Hm, what a coincidence. My father just moved there - I'm visiting him this summer with my brother."

A strange tingling sensation erupted inside of her and she could not feel her fingers. "W-wow." She shook her head, clearing her thoughts. _Pull yourself together, idiot! It doesn't mean anything!_ "Okay, now you answer."

"I lived most of my life in the city closest to this area - Deyton. I'll take you there next Friday." He smiled, and for an instant she forgot where she was.

"You seem pretty confident about our bet." She raised an eyebrow, and he laughed his melodious laugh.

"Very." He reached forward and brushed a few stray strands of hair over her shoulder; she stiffened as his fingers briefly brushed against her neck. "It's your turn to ask, by the way."

There was only one question she felt like asking him, though she was a little unsure. "Er…" She felt his eyes on her, waiting for her to speak, and she fumbled with her half-finished sandwich.

"I know what you want to ask." He was looking at her like he was trying to hold in his laughter, and she blushed. "Just say it."

"Were you in any past relationships?" Her cheeks were burning uncontrollably now, and her eyes could not bear to look at his perfect face.

He was silent for a few long seconds. "I thought you knew about Olette."

Did he have the ability to read minds? "Y-yeah, but I don't know the details," Naminé was speaking so low she was not sure if he heard her, "But I understand if you wanna pass-"

"We lasted for around two years," He sighed, tousling his hair, "Actually, it wasn't even two years since I only saw her during the summertime, and when I was in the area I hardly spent time with her." He sounded regretful, and she felt guilty for asking him. "I was selfish and stupid - I didn't realize I was hurting her until it was too late," He shook his head and smiled ruefully. "But I guess there's nothing else I can do. What's passed has passed, right?"

She nodded slowly, the guilt pulling harder at her insides. She picked at the last piece of her sandwich before popping it into her mouth. "Yeah." She felt his eyes on her and she remembered that she did not answer yet. "Oh, as for me-" She blushed again, "-no, I haven't been in any. I never really understood the people back home...or maybe it's the other way around."

Roxas shook his head. "But you're worth trying to figure out." She flushed and looked away, and he smiled. "Now it's my turn again. Are you currently in a relationship?" He stood up and reached for her, hoisting her to her feet. "The bell's going to ring soon - we should start heading to English."

"N-no," She stuttered as his warm hands guided her to the bottom of the bleachers; she made sure to hand his blazer back before she forgot, "And you?"

He smiled as he pulled the navy blue sport coat on. "No."

A surge of relief ran through her as she stumbled back on her crutches, trying to get used to the feeling again. He helped her back onto the cobblestone pathway. It was difficult to think of a question when he was so close to her. "Erm," She wracked her brains for a good enough question to ask as they approached the Arts Wing, "What's your favourite pastime?"

He chuckled as he tossed the plastic bag into a nearby rubbish bin. "Is that all you can come up with?" When the pink in her cheeks deepened into a dark scarlet, he chuckled again. "Aside from skateboarding, I play the guitar. My mother stressed on music when Sora and I were growing up."

"Sora plays too?" For some reason it was kind of hard to imagine Sora with a musical instrument.

"You really don't want to know how many instruments he ran through," Roxas laughed, shaking his head at old memories, "There was the piano, violin, guitar, saxophone, trumpet...I think he even tried the flute."

An image of Sora playing the flute flashed in Naminé's head, and she snorted. "Did he ever find an instrument he was at least decent in?" Roxas held the door open for her and she thanked him as she hobbled through.

"Surprisingly, yes," Roxas replied as he led her to the elevator, "He found his place behind a drum set. He can't play a tune to save his life, but at least he's got a sense of rhythm...sort of." The elevator doors slid open and the both of them walked inside. "I sort of already know what you do in your spare time - it's drawing, right?"

"Yes," Naminé nodded shyly, "But I also paint." The doors opened seconds later and she tottered out with Roxas in tow. "Kairi gave me a studio that's adjoined to my room, but I haven't done anything in it yet. I'm hoping to start soon, though."

"I'd like to see your work sometime." His smile did wonders to her stomach.

"Only if you'll let me hear you play!" She grinned back.

He chuckled as he held the door to English for her. "It's a deal."

--

The rest of the day was easy now that Roxas was actually talking to her. Because of their little game she knew little random details about him, maybe even more than she should. During Gym, since she was injured and could not play, she watched the badminton games from the bleachers, but he would occasionally stroll by when Mr. Tanaka was not looking and ask her another question, and their game would resume. When school ended and Sora joined them to walk her back to her locker, she could only think about the new things she learned today:

Despite all the stupid things he does on a regular basis, he has never broken a bone.

He never had a real kiss; not even with Olette.

Last year there had been rumours spreading around that he and Axel were in a relationship (she laughed uncontrollably while he rolled his eyes).

He used to play soccer, but his smoking habit held him back. Now Sora only plays.

He wants to be a musician someday.

"I can't believe you told her about the music thing!" Sora complained as they walked towards Naminé's locker, "Now she probably thinks I'm disabled!"

"No," She giggled as she spun her lock, "Some people just aren't fit for certain things." She gestured towards her crutches. "I'm a perfect example."

"I did mention that you can play the drums." Roxas pointed out.

"Still," Sora rolled his eyes and pulled his locker open; numerous textbooks and loose leaves of paper spilled out onto the floor, and he leapt back in surprise. "Whoa!"

"It's only been three days," Naminé choked in between fits of laughter. "And your locker's already flooded. You and Kairi definitely are meant for each other."

"What?" Kairi had just arrived; she eyed the mess by Sora's locker. "Wow, already? Even I'm not that bad. How's the ankle holding up, Nami?"

"It's getting by," The blonde grumbled, lifting one crutch, "Lugging these stupid things around is making me tired, though."

"You should head home, then," Roxas suggested, "Isn't your ride coming soon?"

"It should be," Kairi checked her phone, "We better head outside."

It took a good ten minutes for the foursome to leave the building, since the elevator took forever and Sora had to pile everything back into his locker. The black Maybach was sitting by the curb at the bottom of the stairs as usual, and Roxas helped Naminé down the stairs.

"Thank you," She murmured timidly before Takai came around to help her into the car. "It was nice spending time with you during lunch."

"I enjoyed it too." Roxas smiled, "I'll see you tomorrow."

"And don't forget tomorrow evening, too!" Sora called out from behind.

"Huh?" Both Naminé and Kairi raised an eyebrow.

The Katsura twins laughed in perfect harmony. "I'm guessing you didn't get the news yet," Roxas rubbed the back of his head. "You're coming over tomorrow for dinner. Our mother invited you guys."

"Oh," Kairi nodded and helped Naminé into the car, "Well, thanks for the heads up!"

"Bye," Naminé peered over Kairi's shoulder to wave at the two boys; they waved back, and they disappeared behind the Maybach's heavily tinted windows.

"So," Kairi said as she crawled into the seat beside her, "What happened during lunch?"

Naminé flushed at the memory. "Nothing, really," She tugged on her hair, "We just talked."

"Aw, how cute," Kairi cooed, "He's doing all these good things for you - he's coming to class, quitting smoking, spending quality time with you…"

"It's nothing," Naminé griped through gritted teeth, "We're just friends."

"And you didn't want to talk to him in the beginning." Kairi teased.

"I didn't say I _didn't_ want to talk to him," Naminé objected, "I just thought he was creepy for staring at me all the time." She mentally slapped herself - she totally forgot to ask him about that!

"So what _do_ you think of him, now that you've concluded he isn't creepy?" Kairi questioned; the blonde flushed furiously and stared at her lap. Her cousin giggled and peered into her reddened face. "Oh, so now you _really_ like him, don't you?"

"I've only known him for three days, and we only started talking yesterday." Naminé mumbled half-heartedly.

"That's not good enough. Look at you - you're crazy red!" When Naminé's blush worsened Kairi laughed harder. "Oh Nami, you know I love you and everything, but you seriously have to stop kidding yourself. Who cares if it's only been a few days? You've got a crush," She flipped her hair over her shoulder. "And it's pretty obvious that he feels the same!"

"Okay, so he's cute, I admit that," Naminé sighed, "And he's nice, and he's thoughtful, and he's charming, but we've only _really_ started talking during lunch. If I really do have a crush on him, I'm not going to let it bother me - at least not until I spend more time with him."

"That's where the dinner thing tomorrow will prove its use to you." Kairi grinned, "We should plan your outfit. We need something that'll capture his attention."

_"Kairi…"_

"I know, I know, we still have a lot of time, but I'm just excited!"

_--_

_A/N: The song Kairi was playing on Naminé's computer is called _She Loves Everybody _by Chester French._


	6. Work Your Way In

_A/N: There's only one car I picture Kairi's dad driving, and that's the Rolls Royce Phantom._

--

**Work Your Way In.**

The upcoming dinner party nagged relentlessly at the back of Naminé's brain, and she was still mulling over it the next morning when she trudged into homeroom. Her ankle had gotten better overnight by some kind of miracle and she was well enough to get rid of the crutches, though it still hurt a little bit if she walked around for too long.

"Looks like you're getting better," Roxas' husky voice murmured into her ear, and she jumped; he was standing over her with an amused smile on his perfect face. "Did I do that?"

"Yes," She mumbled, reaching for her textbook, "Do you take pleasure in scaring me? If I remember correctly, you did the same thing during lunch yesterday."

He laughed as he sat at the desk beside her; a few students around them noticed this and began to whisper amongst themselves, but he ignored it. "It's not like I mean to scare you - you're just not paying attention." His dark blue depths glinted underneath the fluorescent lights.

"Did you have your ice cream this morning?" She asked skeptically, "You're still not as twitchy as I expected you to be."

His long fingers brushed through his sandy spikes. "Yes, yes I did. You're being quite persistent on this, aren't you?"

She leaned forward and rested her chin in her hand, grinning triumphantly. "Isn't that a good thing?"

He sighed and unlatched his bag, pulling out his books. "Of course it is."

Class started soon afterwards, but it was hard to pay attention when Roxas was sitting beside her. She admired him from the corner of her eye; he was slouched forward with his chin in his hand, and his eyes were glazed with boredom. His tousled locks looked even more tempting from close up, and her fingertips tingled uncomfortably throughout the entire period.

How could she feel this way? She only knew him for barely a week, and she was incandescently infatuated with him.

"Naminé," He murmured, snapping her out of her thoughts; she turned towards him, her face pink. "It's time for Math."

"O-oh." She stood up and unhooked her bag; Roxas was waiting for her by the door. She was quiet as they descended the stairs together (she still needed a little bit of help because her ankle was not completely healed yet); she was still chewing over her confusing feelings.

"Are you alright?" He finally asked when they exited the SS Wing, "You haven't said a word since class ended."

"Yes," She answered almost immediately, "I'm okay."

"No you're not," He smirked, and she blushed in embarrassment. "Okay, I've got another question to ask."

_Oh geez. _"I'm listening."

"What are you thinking about right now?"

Naminé's ears were beginning to burn. "Do I really have to answer that?"

He glanced at her quickly from the corner of his eye, but continued walking. "You can pass, remember?" He sounded like he was trying to hold in laughter; he _knew._

She could either tell him and die of embarrassment, or she could pass and it would only further raise his suspicions. One way or another, she would end up losing. "How the heck do you do that?" She cried out suddenly, throwing up her hands.

Roxas blinked twice before answering. "Do what?" His tone was annoyingly innocent.

"You cornered me in!" She growled as they entered the SM Wing, "You _know_ what I'm thinking, but you just want me to say it out loud!"

"I don't know what you're talking about." He was grinning now, and she was torn in between wanting to slap him and wanting to - ugh, why was she even _thinking_ about that? "Hey, you haven't answered my question yet. Or are you passing it?"

"Tell me what you think I'm thinking first, and then I'll answer your stupid question." She grumbled.

"Hold on," He suddenly slipped his arm around her waist; her heart leapt at his touch as he gently pulled her closer to him, "Grab onto the railing, Naminé."

Oh, they were only going up the stairs.

"Don't change the subject." She said cuttingly as she limped up the steps, ignoring the wild fluttering going on in her stomach.

"Hm," His chest rumbled with the low vibration of his voice, "What can you possibly be thinking of at the moment…" She heard the grin in his tone, and her frustration only intensified. "Or, should I say, _who _could you possibly be thinking of at the moment?"

Her eyes dropped to her shoes. "I hate you."

Once they reached the second floor he retracted his arm from her; she shuddered at the lack of warmth. Roxas pressed his hand on her back, guiding her down the hallway. "Oh, the possibilities…"

He was teasing her; she could tell by the look on his beautiful face. She rolled her eyes as they entered Math. "I know you know," She sighed in defeat, "Just…just don't say it. You've humiliated me enough as it is."

"How are you sure that I know?" He scratched the back of his head.

"Because you won't stop grinning like you're the happiest person on earth," Naminé retorted, "And don't _you_ have to answer the question now?"

"Well, since you assumed that I know what you're thinking, I'm going to assume the same about you," Roxas replied simply, and she repressed the urge to cuss at him, "And since you didn't actually answer the question, I'm not going to either." He nodded over to Kairi, who was eyeing them suspiciously from her desk. "Your cousin's waiting for you, by the way."

"You..._argh!"_ She stamped her good foot childishly before storming over to Kairi. She could hear his triumphant laughter behind her as she plopped down on her seat, huffing in aggravation and crossing her arms.

"What's up?" Kairi asked casually, "Lovers' quarrel?"

"Quiet, you," Naminé hissed as the redhead giggled, "He's just being annoying," When Kairi opened her mouth to ask why Naminé shot her a glare she did not even know she was capable of shooting. "And _no_ - I'm not going to tell you."

"He seems pretty happy that he's annoying you," Kairi commented, glancing over to where Roxas was sitting; he was whistling to himself as he pulled his books out of his bag, "I probably should've told you beforehand that he has quite a way with words."

"Have you fallen victim to him before?" Naminé asked dryly as she unzipped her pencil case.

"No, but I'm going out with his twin brother who has."

"True."

"But then again Sora's a blockhead-"

Naminé's eyes darted over to her cousin. "What are you implying?"

Kairi shrugged. "Nothing, nothing. Geez, stop acting so paranoid. You're gonna go grey."

Like that would make a difference - Naminé's platinum hair was so pale it could have been mistaken for white, especially in the light. She sighed and rubbed her eyes. "You're right - maybe I'm just worried about the dinner thing."

"Ah, it's nothing to kill yourself over. Their mom is really nice; I'm pretty sure she wouldn't care if you used the dessert fork for your pasta, or whatever." Kairi was tapping her pencil against her binder.

The blonde sighed as the teacher stood up from his desk, ready to start class. "I hope so."

Today's lecture was actually quite important so Naminé had to focus; the last twenty minutes of class was a work period so she decided to start on the homework, but every now and then she would hear cheerful whistling a couple of rows behind her and her concentration would snap. She nearly broke her pencil from gripping it too hard.

"Nami, you seem a little flustered." Kairi pointed out as they left for lunch. She peered over her cousin's shoulder and smiled slyly. "I think he wants you to join him for lunch again."

Naminé sighed and closed her eyes, mentally counting to ten. When she was finished she spun around to see Roxas leaning against the wall with one hand in his pocket; the other was beckoning her over.

"See you after school." Kairi giggled teasingly before bounding down the stairs.

"What do you want?" The blonde griped as she stomped over; Roxas shrugged his shoulders and lifted himself off the wall.

"Nothing," He answered simply, "I just wondered if you wanted to spend lunch with me again."

Though still vexed, her face flushed a faint pink. "Of course I do." She sighed, and began to follow him. They sat atop the bleachers like the day before, but now that her ankle was slightly better they were able to go a little higher. It was easier to see the lake and the trees from so high, but that also meant that the chilly autumn wind blew a bit harder.

"Can you please enlighten me on who - or what - you were thinking about?" He asked as he wrapped his blazer around her; he opened his book bag and pulled out another plastic bag. "It's been bothering me the entire period." He handed her a sandwich, and she took it shyly.

"I thought you already knew." She smirked before biting into her sandwich. She watched him unravel the plastic wrapper from his popsicle; she wondered how long he had that in his bag, since it did not seem to be melting yet.

"No," He said before licking at the bright blue ice cream, "You only assumed that I did."

"Stop playing dumb," She countered, her frustration licking at her stomach lining, "You just want me to say it."

He suddenly leaned in closer, so close that the tips of their noses were grazing against each other. His cobalt hues bored holes into her surprised chicory ones, and her breath caught in her throat. "So what if I want to?" His low, gruff voice smelled like sea salt ice cream.

"Er," She tried to back away but her brain was not cooperating with her limbs, "I-"

He finally drew back, shaking his head and chuckling. His hand reached for the back of his head. "There's just..._something_ about you when you do that. It's irresistible."

Did he just call her _irresistible? _"W-what are you talking about?"

"Now who's playing dumb?" He grinned that perfect, crooked grin of his and her heart began to beat sporadically. "When you stutter and your eyes lower and your face goes all red - you do it all the time."

"Only when you're around." She mumbled plaintively. She mentally smacked herself for admitting it, but she really had no choice; he was going to keep pressing on until she caved in anyway.

"Oh?" He seemed less surprised than she expected; maybe it really was because he already knew. "Why is that?"

Naminé sighed; she picked at her sandwich, feeling more embarrassed than hungry. "Do I really have to explain?" When he did not answer, she sighed again. "Don't you ever notice the way girls stare at you when you enter a room, or the way they sigh when you merely _turn_ in their direction?"

Roxas' fingers combed through his spikes. "Am I supposed to?"

At least he was modest about it. "I think the girls in class are going to start hating me soon for stealing you away from them." She muttered. "Didn't you see the way they started whispering when we sat together in History this morning?"

"Stealing me away? They never had me in the first place." When she finished her sandwich he reached into the plastic bag and handed her a popsicle. "Besides Olette no one here's really caught my attention - most of them only care about who has more money than who. Being brought up outside this neighbourhood makes it easier to see through the plastic and shiny surfaces."

Naminé's head cocked to the side. "So they're not as perfect as they look?"

He laughed and shook his head. "Of course not; nobody is. The thing about the higher ups - the money does all the talking upfront, and the rest is done behind your back."

"That's true." She tugged at her hair, frowning; Kairi, Sora and the others did not seem like the type to do such a thing, though…

"If you're thinking what I think you're thinking, they're not." Her head snapped up to see Roxas smirking at her; how did he _do_ that? "Your cousin, my brother and the other three are probably the only ones around here I'd consider _real_ people. You should stick with them."

She smiled reticently. "What about you? Are you real?"

"I wasn't brought up here, remember?" He smiled for her. "That makes the two of us."

She flushed again, and licked at her popsicle. "Okay, now that you know, it's your turn to tell me what - or _who _- you're thinking of."

He raised an eyebrow. "You didn't answer it directly, so why should I?"

_"UGH!" _She nearly dropped her popsicle as Roxas threw his head back in laughter.

When it was time for them to go to English Naminé noticed that the students were staring at them out of the corner of their eyes. Roxas seemed to notice as well, because he could not stop smirking to himself. Class was not so bad, since they sat with Sora and Hayner.

"A lot of people seem to be staring." Sora remarked as they made their way towards the PA Wing. "Actually, it's just most of the girls."

"That's because your brother's here," Naminé grumbled as Roxas grinned, "He's been present for four days in a row and he sat beside me in two of our previous three classes."

"Don't forget about lunchtime." The blond reminded her, and she flushed.

"I don't get what there is to stare at," The brunet scratched the back of his spiky head, "What's so interesting about you coming to class everyday and spending lunch with Naminé?"

"Because I've never been present at school this often in a week, and Naminé's the new girl?" His brother suggested; he sighed and shook his head. "I swear she just told you…"

Gym was blissfully uneventful once again since Naminé's ankle was still too sore to play badminton. Roxas and Sora were paired up this time for doubles; they were hilarious together. The brothers were very competitive, especially against each other, and they often fought for the birdie, racing down the court and whipping their rackets over their heads to see who would hit it first. They bickered about who scored more and who had a better serve. If one brother messed up or fell down, the other would point and laugh. Besides watching them, Naminé spent the time sketching; she brought her sketchbook today because she knew she was going to need something to do during Gym.

"Hey, that's pretty good." Sora's voice popped out of nowhere and she nearly leapt out of her seat; he was standing in front of her, leaning forward and peering into her drawing. It was of him and Roxas arguing in the middle of a game. "Kairi wasn't lying when she said you could draw."

"T-thank you." Naminé mumbled just as Roxas made his way over to them.

"Lemme see," He gently pulled the sketchbook out of her hands. "Wow."

"I know, right?" Sora turned around to see Mr. Tanaka yelling something about cleaning up. "Oh, I think we're done for today. We better help."

"Be right back." Roxas whispered to her as he handed back her sketchbook. She blushed as she watched him jog away with Sora not so far behind. She packed her things away and made her way towards the entrance to the Gym, where a few students were already leaving to change. She felt a few girls' eyes on her as they passed her by, but she ignored them.

"C'mon," Roxas returned, fully dressed. Sora was right beside him, making their resemblance easier to see. Kairi was waiting by her locker as usual, and the four waited outside the student centre with Pence, Hayner and Olette. Minutes after they arrived the Maybach strolled into view, and Kairi began to pull her cousin towards it.

"We'll see you guys tonight." Sora waved, and Naminé waved back before Kairi pushed her inside the car.

Once the girls arrived home they went straight to their homework so they could have enough time as possible to pick out what to wear for later. The cousins blazed through their assignments, not really caring if they did it correctly or not, and rushed to their closets. Kairi spent at least an hour scrounging through her jungle of a room for something to wear; she eventually decided on a strapless dark red dress (she found it underneath her bed) with a skirt that ended just above her knees, and black strappy heels (one was hiding in a pile of clothes in the corner of the room and the other was dangling from her closet mirror).

"Don't you have anything cocktail party material, or something?" The redhead asked as she rifled through Naminé's closet, "You have a lot of pretty things to wear, but we need _the_ dress! We need something that'll make him go 'wow, she's hot!'"

The blonde's cheeks reddened as she dodged an incoming pair of jeans. "I don't think I have anything that'll make him say _that_, and do I look like the type who goes to cocktail parties? Plus, only rich people throw things like those!"

"Well, you're going to a rich family's house for dinner," Kairi threw a random dress at her, "And you're trying to catch a rich boy's attention. Here, this might do it."

It was a simple, pale yellow sundress. There was a white trim on the hem of the skirt, and the semi-thick straps were also white. The fabric was floaty and the skirt was just right, ending at around her knees. "Since when did I own this?" Naminé raised an eyebrow at it as she held the pretty dress at arms' length, "I don't remember buying this at all…"

"I dunno, but you're wearing it tonight." Kairi tossed a pair of white sandals over her head and they landed by Naminé's feet. "Hurry up - we have half an hour before we're going!"

Naminé sighed and scrambled to the bathroom. She dressed quickly, pulled on the sandals and ran back to the closet to examine herself in the full-length mirror. If there was one word to describe her that word would be _pale_ - her hair was the lightest shade of blonde possible, her eyes were such a light shade of blue they sometimes looked grey and her skin so white she was almost painful to look at when she went under the sun. The yellow of the dress helped bring some colour to appearance, at least, and it brought out her eyes. She smoothed out the skirt and did a quick turnaround; the billowing fabric fluttered around her and she grinned to herself. Maybe Roxas would like it after all…

"Naminé!" Kairi stumbled into her walk-in closet with only one heel on. "Are you ready?"

The blonde pulled her fingers through her hair; her bangs were wispy and that annoying flick at the back was curling outwards like it always did. "I hate my hair," She complained as she attempted to flatten it with her hands, "Why can't mine be neat and straight like yours?"

After pulling her other heel on Kairi approached her and playfully tugged on her rebellious strand of hair. "I actually like yours," She giggled, "It's just _screaming_ to be played with."

_"Kai-"_ Naminé grumbled, her flush now a dark red; she was interrupted by Ryo, who was calling them from downstairs.

"Girls!" Both cousins dashed out of Naminé's room and bounded down the marble staircase as quickly as they could. Ryo and Midori were waiting for them patiently by the door.

"Ready?" Midori smiled; the girls smiled back and proceeded through the large double doors. There was a new car waiting for them at the bottom of the steps; it was a dark blue, and the interior leather was a light grey.

"Dad prefers driving his own cars." Kairi explained as they clambered into the back seat.

"He said to tell him when I get my license," Naminé pulled at her hair as Ryo circled out of the roundabout, "What did he mean by that?"

"Oh, he probably has a car in waiting for you," Kairi replied casually, staring at her nails, "He has one for me too, but I'm too lazy to take my road test-"

"WHAT?!" Naminé would have toppled off her seat if her seatbelt was not on; Midori turned around to see what was going on and Ryo eyed them questioningly through the rearview mirror, but Kairi laughed it off and told them to ignore it.

"If you're gonna be getting your license you need a car, don't you?" Kairi smirked, and the blonde flopped back against her seat, shaking her head.

"This is too much…"

"Oh look - we're here." The redhead was pointing at something out the window; Naminé leaned over her cousin's shoulder to see, and she gasped.

"Holy-"

"It's pretty, isn't it?" Kairi grinned.

The Katsura manor was the complete opposite of the Hinomoto manor; it was very modern looking, with large glass walls and geometric architecture. The pitch black driveway drove straight up to the granite steps; the doors were long, thin and made of dark wood.

"Good evening, Mr. Hinomoto," A man with dark curly hair approached the driver's window and helped Ryo out of the car; he then circled around and helped Midori. "And you, Mrs. Hinomoto."

"It's so wonderful to see you again, Fredericton," Midori smiled. Fredericton then opened Naminé's door and helped the girls out.

"You must be Miss Naminé," He smiled kindly, "It's a pleasure to meet you - and Miss Kairi, looking ravishing as usual."

"Thanks, Fredericton." The redhead grinned. Naminé assumed that Kairi's family was well acquainted with the Katsuras.

"Right this way," Fredericton led them up the steps and pushed the thin doors open for them; much like the outside, the inside was very sleek and modern looking. The walls were either completely glass or paneled with horizontal strips of dark wood, and the floors were large squares of glossy black granite. The steps of the staircase were made of black glass, and the railings were black iron with clear glass paneling.

"Ryo, Midori!" A beautiful woman with flowing brown hair emerged from a room behind the staircase. Her eyes were an intense shade of blue. "It's been too long!" She gave Midori a hug and shook Ryo's hand before turning her attention to the girls. "Oh, Kairi - you look stunning! And Naminé," The blonde flushed and stared at her shoes, "I've heard so much about you. It's so nice to finally meet you!"

"Hello, Ms. Katsura," Naminé bowed.

"Hiya Kairi!" Both girls spun towards the source of the sound; Sora had emerged from a room to the side dressed in chinos, a white dress shirt, a red tie and a navy pullover. "Hey Naminé! You guys look great!"

"Hey Sora," Kairi grinned, "Where's your brother?"

"Right here." Roxas appeared right beside him. "You look wonderful tonight, Naminé."

The blonde blushed again; she could hear Kairi snickering from not so far away. "T-thank you." She made a mental note to glare at her cousin later.

"Looks like we're all here," Ms. Katsura clapped her hands together gleefully, "Shall we make our way to the dining room?"

Kairi and Sora began to follow the adults, chatting amongst each other and holding hands. Roxas turned to the blushing blonde and held his arm out to her, which she took shyly.

"You know what?" He leaned in to murmur into her ear as they passed the glass staircase; the hallway was sort of narrow, lined with long thin doors much like the ones at the entrance, and some parts of the wall were made of frosted glass. His breath tickled her skin and his cologne smelled stronger for some reason.

"W-what?" She asked shakily.

"You really do look wonderful tonight." He pulled back and grinned her favourite crooked grin; she noticed that his face was band-aid free, and he was wearing all black - black pants, black suit coat, black dress shirt - but his tie was a milky yellow, much like her dress. Out of all the colours in existence he just _had_ to pick the one she was wearing. When she flushed again, he chuckled. "I knew you were going to do that."

The dining room was shaped in a semi-circle; the circular part was made entirely out of glass, exposing the back property, but since it was already dark out it was hard to see what was outside. The ceiling was high with a glass chandelier, which was of course also of modern design, and the table was long and made out of clear glass.

"Everything is made of glass," Naminé muttered as she sat down, "You know how dangerous that is for someone as accident-prone as me?"

"Of course I do," Roxas replied as he sat next to her, "That's why I'm going to make sure you're not going to be tripping over anything today - and that includes thin air."

"Nami," Kairi was sitting on her other side, "Remember to work your way in."

The blonde stared dismally at the many utensils lying before her. Why did rich people have to have so many forks and spoons?

The food came soon afterward; they were all served in clear glass plates (the glass motif was beginning to make Naminé very paranoid) and in five courses, just like at the Hinomoto manor. Everyone talked casually amongst themselves; the adults talked the usual adult talk with business relations and such while the teens complained about school and made fun of Sora.

"Er, Naminé," Roxas was leaning forward and staring at her hands.

"What?" She asked, looking down at her plate, "Am I doing something wrong?"

"You're using your appetizer fork."

"Does it really make much of a difference?" She muttered as she reached for the right - at least she thought it was the right one - utensil.

"It's etiquette." He smirked, returning to his food, "I thought Kairi told you to _work your way in _- that's the best way to remember."

Naminé huffed and stabbed at her vegetables. "They all look the same to me."

"Are you guys done?" Sora was peering over at them from where he was sitting, "Let's go upstairs!"

"Alright," Roxas pushed away from his plate and stood up. He held his hand out to Naminé and she stared at it, dumbfounded. "Come on."

His hand was warm to the touch; she hesitantly curled her fingers around his and he lifted her up from her chair with minimal effort. They followed Sora and Kairi out of the dining room, down the narrow hallway and up the glass steps. They walked down another series of narrow hallways and entered a room that reminded Naminé of the mini-theatre back at the Hinomoto mansion, except that there were a few arcade video game systems lined up against the right wall.

"Five munny for whoever wins in DDR!" Kairi was already dashing towards the video game. Sora groaned, knowing that his chances of winning are slim, and jogged after her. Roxas chuckled and shook his head; Naminé was busy mulling over the fact that they were still holding hands.

"They have one of the most interesting relationships I've ever seen," Roxas was still shaking his head, "They can argue all day long and challenge each other at anything, and at the end of the day you'll catch them hugging and holding hands."

Naminé's cheeks darkened at the mention of the phrase _holding hands_ and her eyes dropped to the floor. Roxas finally looked down and noticed their entwined hands, and he laughed. He pulled her towards the far end of the room to a set of double doors made out of frosted glass.

"Where does this go?" Naminé asked, thankful that she found her voice.

"See for yourself." He gripped the long titanium handle with his free hand and pushed the door open.

The door revealed a studio with a high ceiling, dark grey carpeting and black soundproofed walls. The floor rose into a platform at the end of the room, where a beautiful white grand piano sat beside a black drum set. The room was littered with all sorts of instruments, some Naminé did not even recognize. In the corner sat a complicated looking computer surrounded by soundboards and other pieces of recording equipment.

"I'm here most of the time when I'm home," Roxas said, tugging her over to a shiny red and black acoustic guitar that was dangling from a hook against the wall, "Sora and I spend a lot of time in here together too, even though he can only play the percussion instruments with no pitch."

"You play _all_ of these? You said you only played guitar!" Naminé's flaxen head whipped around the room, awing at the different instruments. Roxas dropped her hand to pluck the guitar off the wall. He sat on the edge of the platform and strummed a few chords; the acoustics of the room made it sound louder than it should have sounded, but it was clear and resonating.

"Not all of them," He admitted, "But I'm in the process of learning. Sora really wants to learn too and I've been trying to teach him, but I honestly don't think it's in him to be a musician…" He shook his head amusedly, "I think he just wants to learn so he can impress Kairi, but he doesn't really need to do that. It's obvious she likes him a lot already, just for who he is."

"You shouldn't try too hard to impress a girl," Naminé agreed as she sat down beside him, "You'll end up becoming someone you're not, and then you'll end up with a relationship based on your own lie." She watched Roxas' long fingers move skillfully up and down the fretboard. "Kairi said that she knew Sora for a really long time before they started going out; does that mean she knew you too?"

"Yes and no," Roxas replied; he reached into his pocket and pulled out a pick for his guitar, "I'd sometimes hang around with her and Sora when I stayed over for the summer, and we'd talk and everything, but she was always closer to my brother than me. Like I mentioned before, they have a special relationship - something between them just _clicked,_ you know? I wasn't surprised when I moved in last summer, only to find that they were going out. I was expecting it, really." He paused for a minute to ruffle his hair. "I'm really happy for them, especially Sora. He needs someone like Kairi."

"I'm happy for them too," Naminé smiled to herself, "Though I do feel bad for your brother sometimes; Kairi can be a little scary."

"You know, I always thought you'd be like her," Roxas began strumming a song that sounded familiar to her, "But you proved me wrong. You're actually quite the opposite."

The blonde gave him a wry smile. "Is that why you wouldn't stop staring at me during the first couple of days?"

"Sort of, yes," He answered sheepishly; his grin was adorably shy, "I was trying to figure you out. Sorry if it offended you or anything - it's just that...well, you're intriguing, Naminé."

Her cheeks were beginning to flare up again and she began playing with her fingers. "Intriguing? I highly doubt that." Her voice was low and nearly incoherent.

"Well, for one thing," He stopped strumming and rested the guitar against the wall; he shifted around so that he was facing her, and he took her hands in his own. Her eyes remained glued to the floor and her face felt like it had burst into flames. "The way you blush when you're nervous is really quite captivating."

She gasped slightly as his hands moved to her face; his touch was cool under her heated skin. She could hear the blood thumping in her ears as her eyes slid upwards, running over his black attire and the yellow tie, and then moving to his perfect face and endless blue depths. Her own hands moved to grip the lapels of his jacket, and their foreheads moved to press against each other. Her eyelids fluttered to a close as she inched closer; she could feel his lips brushing against her own-

"HEY!" Sora screamed; it was loud and easy to hear, even though the walls of the studio were soundproofed, "YOU'RE CHEATING!"

Naminé stumbled backwards and nearly fell off the platform, but Roxas grabbed her by the wrists and pulled her upright. He pulled a little too hard, though, and she crashed against his chest. She shyly pushed away from him, her face a dark shade of red. Roxas looked a little disappointed (she could not help but feel the same), but he stood up and pulled her up with him.

"C'mon," He took her by the hand and led her out of the studio, "Kairi and Sora will destroy something if we don't act soon."

Her vocal chords refused to function, so she only nodded. She glanced over her shoulder one last time before leaving the studio, her eyes stuck on the shiny acoustic guitar leaning against the wall.

--

_A/N: The familiar song Roxas was playing was none other than Coldplay's _Yellow, _the inspiration for this wonderful (not really) story!_


	7. Meet Riku

_A/N: Thanks for the wonderful reviews so far, guys!_

_Spot the _The World Ends With You _reference and you move up a spot higher on my cool list._

_Mercedes C230 Kompressor is the car that Olette drives in this chapter, and Riku's motorcycle is an Ecosse Titanium._

_--_

**Meet Riku.**

"Nami?" Kairi waved her hand in front of her cousin's face the next morning, trying to get her attention, "Helloooo…"

"Hm?" The blonde's pale blue eyes finally began to focus and she turned to stare at her redheaded cousin, who was eyeing her skeptically. "What is it?"

"You've been staring into space the entire time," Kairi smirked before shoving a spoonful of cereal into her mouth, "And you're humming the same song over and over again!"

Naminé's cheeks burned a bright pink. "Oh, was I?" She scooped some cereal into her mouth and swallowed. "Sorry, er-"

"Something happened the other night." Kairi was grinning now. Naminé groaned and slapped her own forehead.

"Do I have to-"

"Of course you do," Kairi pulled her out of the kitchen and out of the mansion, where Takai and the Maybach were waiting, "So, what happened?"

"Nothing," Naminé grumbled as she forced her seatbelt into its buckle, "Well…it wouldn't have been something if you and Sora weren't arguing over DDR-"

"What?! Sora and I ruined everything for you? Oh gosh, I'm so sorry!" Kairi actually looked quite devastated; her hands were covering her mouth and her eyes were wide. The blonde laughed nervously and shook her head.

"It's not really that big of-"

"So what _almost_ happened?" The redhead leaned in closer, and Naminé backed up against the window, feeling cornered.

"Er, well he was talking about how he plays a lot of instruments, and how Sora can't-" Both girls giggled at this, "-and then he started playing the guitar."

"Oh, so _that's_ why you've been humming to yourself. Aw, how romantic..." Kairi sighed dreamily, and the blonde blushed. "Go on."

"I dunno, we were just talking while he was playing, and then suddenly we're millimetres apart," Naminé's heart began to pound at the memory, "And then Sora started yelling about you cheating, which scared me and I sorta fell backwards, but then Roxas caught me before I managed to make a complete fool of myself."

Kairi's cheeks were tinged pink. "Oops." She scratched her head sheepishly. "Wow, that must've been intense. I can't believe I ruined it for you - I feel horrible."

"Well, there's always this weekend, right?" Naminé asked hopefully, remembering when Kairi suggested they hang out on the weekend, but to her dismay the redhead frowned.

"Turns out he can't join us after all," She sighed, "He said he's got some 'really important things to attend to' - at least that's what Sora told me."

"Oh." Naminé's eyes drifted to her shoes. "That's alright…"

"I _will_ make this up to you somehow, Nami," Kairi grabbed her hands and stared straight into her eyes, "I promise! I won't ruin anymore opportunities for you, I swear!"

The blonde laughed and leaned in to hug her cousin. "It's not that big a deal, Kairi, but thanks anyway."

Kairi pulled away from her, appalled. "Of course it's a big deal! Firsts in _anything_ are always a big deal, especially first ki-"

"We're here," Takai's voice popped up from the opening above the flat screen, and Naminé sighed in relief. The girls thanked Takai as he helped them out of the car, and made their way towards the student centre. The Katsura twins were waiting for them by the front steps.

"Heya," Sora bounded forward and pecked Kairi swiftly on the lips, "How are you guys doing? Had fun last night?"

Kairi threw Naminé a suggestive look; the blonde flushed and tried to hide her face behind her hair. "Y-yeah, of course," She mumbled as Roxas moved to stand beside her, "Your place is really nice."

"It's a drag that you can't hang out with us this weekend, Roxas," Sora rubbed the back of his spiky head, "Is whatever you're doing _really_ that important?"

"To be honest with you, not really," His twin smiled sadly, "But I made these plans beforehand, and it would be rude to back out last minute."

"Oh, look at the time," Kairi was glancing at her phone, "I better head to homeroom. See you guys during lunch!" She kissed Sora on the cheek before dashing off. Naminé left with the twins to the SS Wing, and waved Sora goodbye when he departed for his class.

"You better not be doing anything stupid," Naminé warned as they walked into History, "'Cause I really don't see how dangling off the end of a moving truck is more important than hanging out with your friends."

"Hey, I told you that the plans I've made before Kairi mentioned hanging out aren't _that_ important," Roxas countered as they sat down, "Why do you seem so concerned, anyway?" He teasingly leaned in towards her, so close that his lips were grazing her skin, "Are you worried about me?"

"Don't push it," She muttered; she palmed his forehead and pushed him away, though her face was as red as a tomato. He laughed victoriously as he pulled his books out of his bag, and she could not do anything but roll her eyes and sulk. She ignored him for the duration of homeroom, feeling a little flustered over the fact that his perfection had its ways of making her do whatever he wanted her to do. Why did _he_ have to have control over her, and not the other way around?

And how was he acting so nonchalant after what happened yesterday?

"Hey," He called after her as she stormed down the hallway after class, "Wait."

"What is it, Roxas?" She gave in and spun around to face him with her arms crossed defiantly. When she eyed the guilty expression on his face and the way his shoulders were drooped, an uncomfortable aching grew in the pit of her chest.

"I'm really sorry," He stepped closer and the scent of his cologne wafted into her nostrils, "I would do anything to spend time with you this weekend, really, but I can't back out now. You don't know how terrible I feel."

She relaxed her arms and sighed, realizing that he was having his way with her again. "I should be the one saying sorry," She cast her eyes to the floor, "I...I guess I'm just frustrated because I really wanted to see you…"

She felt his hands on her shoulders. "I wanted to see you too." He replied softly, "I guess it was a matter of bad timing." He slid one hand under her chin and tilted her head upwards so he could look at her properly; the uncomfortable aching in her chest slowly crescendoed into a frantic pulsing and she lost the ability to breathe, "We still have next Friday, don't we?"

She sucked in a breath and forced her vocal chords to work. "O-only if you don't smoke anymore...remember?" Her voice was shaky and very soft, but he was close enough to hear her. He smiled and reluctantly pulled away; his hand slid down to hers, and he began to gently pull her down the hallway.

"Then I'll just have to stock up on more sea-salt ice cream." He smiled, and she could not help but smile back.

School breezed by after that (she still had to sit out in Gym) but the thought of not seeing Roxas over the weekend ate at her, and by the time school ended Naminé did not want to leave his side as the Maybach strolled into view.

"Next week," He promised, taking her hands in his; he leaned in and nuzzled his head against the side of hers, and she stiffened. "I'll see you." He murmured into her ear. His spikes tickled her skin.

"O-okay." She stepped back and reluctantly released his hands. She slowly walked towards the car, where Takai and Kairi were waiting. "Bye." She waved before ducking inside.

"That was _so_ cute," Kairi squealed, causing Naminé to sigh and roll her eyes, "Oh gosh, I feel fuzzy inside. Even Sora told me it was cute! He's probably making fun of Roxas as we speak."

"Quit it," The blonde muttered, burying her face into her hands; her cheeks were burning with embarrassment. "He feels bad that he's not gonna be there on the weekend, so he said he's going to try extra hard not to smoke so he can take me out next Friday."

She should not have told her cousin that; Kairi was cooing and awing the entire way home. She was still at it when Takai helped them out of the car, and she continued babbling as they walked up the grand marble staircase to their rooms.

"You're _so_ cute together," Kairi sighed for the billionth time, "It won't be long until-"

"You know what?" Naminé pushed her cousin into her room, ignoring the peals of protest, "I think I'm gonna get started on my homework so I don't have to worry about it later. You should do the same."

"Naminé!" But the blonde had already closed the door on her. Satisfied with herself, Naminé entered her own room, changed into a loose t-shirt and shorts, and pulled her books out of her bag. There was not a lot to get done - just a couple of pages of Math problems and a short chapter to read and make notes on. She wondered if the rest of the school year was going to be like this. After she completed her assignments she briefly contemplated on whether she should knock on Kairi's door, but she realized that her redhead cousin would only resume the 'you-and-Roxas' hullaballoo, so she trotted into her studio, set up a medium-sized canvas against the easel and began to mix some paints.

She had no idea what she was going to be painting, so to be safe she squirted a bit of everything onto her palette. She rushed back into the main room to boot up the music player on her computer; she started off with the song Roxas was playing for her at the dinner party. Naminé scrambled back into her studio and bent over to pick up her palette and some brushes. She stared at the canvas for a good five or so minutes, wracking her brains for something to replicate on it.

"Oh!" She dipped her paintbrush into a blob of yellow-brown paint and began to streak the canvas with it. The song resonated clearly into the studio, filling the small room with its harmonized guitars and beating drums, and she hummed to herself in contentment as she worked her wonders. Five songs later she stepped back to see how she was progressing; if she squinted she could see a boy with spiky, sandy hair hunched over a red and black acoustic guitar.

--

Naminé tugged at the end of her shirt as she sat out on the front steps with her cousin the next afternoon; her and Kairi were waiting for Olette to pick them up. They were going into the city today to meet with with Hayner, Pence, Sora and another friend of theirs that Naminé was yet to make acquaintances with.

"His name is Riku," Kairi grinned, "He's been with Sora and I since we were really little. I think you'll like him - he's easy to get along with."

"How come I've never seen him before?" The blonde glanced at her cousin; Kairi was wearing cream coloured short shorts with a thick white belt, pink and white sneakers, a pink t-shirt and a matching cream vest. Naminé was dressed in a pair of jeans, white flip-flops, a white t-shirt, and a white knitted beret; for some reason she felt underdressed.

"Oh, he goes to Somerset," The redhead replied, "It's an all boys' school on the other side of town, but he actually lives a couple of blocks away from us."

"Must be some trip." Naminé mumbled as a beige coloured Mercedes rolled into the roundabout. Olette was grinning from the driver's seat.

"Hey guys!" She exclaimed as Kairi ducked into the passenger seat; Naminé clambered into the back.

"Hey Olette," Kairi smiled back; she began to bob her head to the beat of the song blaring from the car stereo, "Do you know where we're meeting them?"

"Sure do," She replied as she circled out of the roundabout, "We're going to the boardwalk first; I think Sora mentioned something about having lunch."

The redhead sighed and slapped her own forehead. "Why am I not surprised?"

It was a twenty minute drive to Deyton; the girls happily chatted amongst each other and sang along to touchy rock songs. Kairi, being the wonderful cousin that she is, made things more interesting when she brought up the topic of Roxas Katsura. She mentioned what happened yesterday after school, much to Naminé's dismay, but to her surprise Olette was nice about it.

"You guys seem to be getting really close," Olette remarked as she waited for the light to turn green, "It's only been a few days too."

"I-is that a bad thing?" Naminé fumbled with her fingers, "And...aren't you mad that...w-well, y'know…"

The brunette laughed and shook her head; her green eyes were glancing at the blonde through the rearview mirror. "It's not bad at all - it simply means that you two have great chemistry, and why would I be mad at you? You're getting along with him way better than I have. I couldn't get him to stay in one place for very long; you, on the other hand somehow got him to quit smoking _and_ attend class!"

"He told me he feels guilty for what he's done to you - or, rather, what he _didn't_ do to you." Naminé tugged at her hair, her eyes drifting towards the window.

"Oh, I know he does," Olette replied as she hit the gas, "But he knows just as well as I do that there's nothing else we can do about it. He's very sweet and caring - you don't get that in guys these days. You two are lucky you've got the twins."

"And you're lucky you've got Hayner." Kairi added cheekily, and the brunette flushed a deep scarlet. The large manors began to downsize into regular houses, and then they suddenly blew up into tall corporate buildings and flashy billboard signs. People littered the crosswalks and it was almost impossible to drive through.

"This is why I hate driving downtown." Olette complained as she turned a corner; there was a glimpse of the ocean straight ahead. The road began to thin a little, and the buildings started to shrink again. The closer they got to the ocean, the bumpier the street was beginning to be; Naminé peered out of her window and discovered that the black pavement had somehow transformed into cobblestone. The buildings in the boardwalk area were painted bright, pale colours, and gave off a very Mediterranean feel.

"Wow," Naminé gaped as they passed a few more stores, _"This_ is where Roxas used to live?"

"Not in this area," Olette replied as she parked the car in a small plaza, "He lived more towards the centre of the city."

"I wouldn't be surprised if we see him today; if he's not home he's downtown," Kairi winked as she stepped out of the car, "You better keep an eye out, Nami."

The blonde did not even bother to comment back; she rolled her eyes as she closed the car door. The air smelled like a mixture of sea salt and Italian food. The girls circled around the plaza and ended up on the boardwalk; the ocean was a dark blue, which contrasted nicely with the bright, cloudless sky.

"Hey!" The girls found Hayner, Pence and Sora sitting on the patio of a quaint looking restaurant. Sora was the only one eating; he was practically inhaling his plate of fettucini. The other two were merely sipping on their glasses of water.

"I see you've started without us." Olette giggled; Kairi pinched the bridge of her nose and Naminé joined in with the brunette. They pulled up some chairs just as the waitress swung by, and they ordered their food (Sora ordered a second plate).

"Where's Riku?" Kairi asked, looking around.

"He should be coming soon," Hayner held up his phone, "He called me just before you came."

Right on cue, a growling motorcycle engine ripped into everybody's ears. A shiny silver and gold motorcycle tore down the street and circled around the corner, driving straight onto the boardwalk. Its tires screeched to a halt in front of them.

"Heya Riku," Sora greeted in between mouthfuls of pasta.

The driver pulled off his helmet, revealing turquoise eyes and long silvery hair. "Hey Sora, everybody." He pulled his motorcycle over against the black iron railing that divided the patio and the boardwalk and moved to sit with them. "How was your first week of school?"

"Great," Kairi replied bouncily; she gestured over to Naminé, who was picking at her chicken parmesan, "Oh, before I forget, this is Naminé, my cousin - the one I told you about."

Riku leaned forward to shake the blonde's hand. He had a firm grip, and his fingers were calloused. "S'nice to meet you, Naminé," He smiled kindly, and she smiled back. "So I hear you're from Twilight Town?"

"Y-yeah," Naminé replied shyly, "Sunset Hill, to be more specific."

"Nice - I've been there once or twice. Really quiet place. Clean." He smiled again and reached for the menu.

Once everybody was finished eating (they had to wait for Sora to finish his third helping) they decided to wander the city. Naminé had never been to Deyton before so everyone wanted to show her around. There were so many kinds of little stores to look at, and at the square there were gigantic TVs on a few of the buildings that played all sorts of advertisements. Riku was walking alongside her the entire time, talking casually and pointing out things of interest along the way; he really was easy to get along with.

"Somerset's not that bad, I guess," He said, placing his hands behind his head, "But the fact that it's so far away gets kind of annoying."

"Why do you go all the way there when you can come somewhere closer, like Brighton?" Naminé asked as they waited for the crosswalk signal to change.

"Parents' decision," Riku shrugged, "In the beginning I detested it - y'know, typical teenage rebellion and everything - but after awhile I just got used to it. I'm bummed out 'cause I don't get to see Sora and everybody as much as before, but we always make time for each other."

"Kairi told me you three were really close." They melded into the crowd, shuffling across the street.

"Yeah," Riku chuckled; in the distance Sora was cracking some corny joke and Kairi was looking away, embarrassed, "The three of us did everything together. We were hardly apart. They're my two best friends - I wouldn't trade them for anything else in the world."

"Hey, watch it!" A familiar voice cut through the crowd, and both Riku and Naminé's heads turned towards the source of the noise.

"Who is it?" The blonde stood on the tips of her toes, trying to peer over everybody's heads. She caught a glimpse of fiery red spikes and she gasped.

"Ugh, you can't be serious," Riku muttered grudgingly, and she turned to him in confusion; what did he have against Axel?

"S-sorry, I-" A kid with headphones was staring up at the taller man, his eyes wide with fear.

"C'mon," Another familiar voice said, and Naminé realized with shock that it was Roxas', "You're being stupid."

"Who's being stupid - me or Headphones?" Axel laughed; Naminé gently pushed herself through the crowd and she saw the redhead and Roxas standing by the street corner, along with a girl she did not recognize; she was very petite and pretty, with short black hair and blue eyes. The three of them were staring down at the kid with headphones.

"Let's go, Axel," Roxas grabbed his friend by the sleeve and began pulling him back onto the sidewalk, "We're running late." He circled around to face the sidewalk; the black haired girl hooked her arm around his and pressed against him.

"Huh?" Naminé rubbed her eyes and blinked towards the street corner again; the three had already disappeared into the crowd.

"Riku, Naminé!" Sora was calling them, "Hurry up!"

Riku's rough fingers wrapped around Naminé's wrist and he gently pulled her off the street. "C'mon, they're waiting for us."

It was hard to ignore the strange aching sensation in her chest, even with Sora's corny jokes and Riku's kindness. Naminé found it hard to concentrate throughout the rest of the day; the image of the girl huddling against Roxas kept replaying in her head.

"Nami," Kairi was shaking her by the shoulder' the blonde's eyes focused and she realized that she was standing in the plaza parking lot by Olette's car. "Are you alright? You've been spacing out the entire evening."

"O-oh," Naminé shook her head and tugged at her hair, but the image of the girl with black hair did not fade away, "Sorry. I'm probably just tired."

"You should be," Hayner smirked, "We've been on our feet the entire day. You should get some rest - you look bushed."

"We should be going anyway," Olette yawned and reached into her purse for her keys, "It's getting late."

Naminé stared out into the ocean; the sun was beginning to dip into the horizon, and the sky was fading into a pinkish hue. She turned back and noticed that Kairi was already inside the car, and she moved to scramble into the back seat.

"It was nice meeting you, Naminé," Riku smiled, "I hope I'll see you again soon."

The blonde flushed and waved goodbye before pulling the car door to a close. Olette started up the stereo again; it was a piano version of the song Roxas played on his guitar, and the person singing it this time was female. Naminé sighed and pressed her back against her seat, closing her eyes; she really did not want to think of _him_ right now.

Naminé must have fallen asleep, because minutes later she heard Kairi's voice murmuring to her. "Nami," She said; she was standing outside, and behind her was the Hinomoto manor, "We're home."

Olette giggled. "Get some sleep, Naminé. You look really tired."

"Will do," The blonde yawned as she closed the door. "See you later." She waved until the brunette's car disappeared behind the gates, and then she trudged inside the house with her cousin. Kairi joined her as she dragged herself into her room.

"Hey, are you alright?" She asked as the blonde flopped onto the bed, "You seemed okay earlier, and then suddenly you just stopped talking."

"I'm fine," Naminé answered a little too quickly; her voice was muffled against the sheets, "I'm just tired."

"Now that I think about it," Kairi tapped her chin with her finger and her eyes drifted towards the ceiling, "You went quiet after we saw Axel by the street corner."

"Roxas was there too," The blonde mumbled, "And some other girl."

"Oh right!" Kairi nodded, but then her brow furrowed in confusion. "Hm, I don't think I've ever seen that girl before, though." When Naminé groaned and rolled over on her side, the redhead sighed and shook her head. "Aw, Nami...Roxas probably has some kind of explanation. He's not the kind of guy who would just lead you on for no good reason."

Naminé wrapped her arms around herself and closed her eyes, feeling more tired with every passing minute. "How are you so sure?" The dull throbbing began to thump inside of her again, and she groaned a second time. She felt Kairi's hand on her shoulder, and she glanced behind her to see her cousin smiling serenely.

"If there's one thing Roxas isn't, it's dishonest. I know he has a reason; he wouldn't lie to you." Kairi reassured her; she opened her arms and Naminé crawled into them, sighing and resting her head on her shoulder.

"I hate this," The blonde mumbled into her cousin's shirt, "This is happening way too fast. I haven't even been here for a full week yet, and look!"

"I had a feeling you were going to make things a little more exciting," She could hear the grin in Kairi's voice, "And I was right."

"Hn." Naminé huffed stubbornly.

"It's human to feel jealous, Nami," Kairi was still grinning, "You'll have the chance to talk with him on Monday - that is, if you can wait that long."

"I really don't have any other choice," The blonde sighed, shaking her head against her cousin's shoulder; she thought about the scene by the street corner again and something lit up inside. "Oh!" She pulled away at arms' length, her eyes wide with realization, "When we saw Axel Riku didn't seem so enthused. Is there a reason why?"

Kairi scratched her head. "Er, I don't think he was directing it towards Axel."

Naminé's head tilted to the side. "He was talking about Roxas?"

The redhead nodded slowly; she crawled over to rest her back against the headboard and pulled a pillow onto her lap. "Yeah," She sighed as Naminé moved to sit beside her, "It's kind of a long story."

"Something happened between them?"

Kairi's head lowered, and she began to play with her hands. "Yep - because of me."

_"You?!" _The blonde gaped, "But you said Roxas only went out with-"

"Oh no, it's nothing like that," Kairi laughed a little sadly, "It's actually a bit more complicated…"

Naminé got the hint and decided to drop the subject. "Oh, you don't have to tell me, Kairi. It's just...wow. What a coincidence." She tugged at her hair. "I thought Riku was really nice, and Roxas...well, I don't really have to explain."

"I know," Kairi shook her head amusedly, "You really know how to pick 'em, do you?"

"I don't think of Riku like that," The blonde rolled her eyes, "We just met!"

"You said the same thing about Roxas." Kairi pointed out.

"What are you implying?" Naminé raised an eyebrow. "If you're thinking what I think you're think-"

"I'm not, don't worry," Kairi laughed, "Riku's nice and all, but I see you more with Roxas, to be honest."

The blonde crossed her arms. "This isn't Matchmaker, Kairi."

"Hey, I'm just saying."

"So you really think there's nothing going on between him and that girl?" Naminé's cheeks were a light pink, and she was staring at her lap. Kairi smiled and threw an arm around her shoulders.

"I don't think there is - I already told you that Roxas isn't the kind of guy who would do something like that. I'm pretty sure he has his reasons."

"Reasons he'll explain to me on Monday, that is." The blonde grumbled, and her cousin laughed.

"That's the spirit."

--

_A/N: A few of the touchy rock songs heard in the car were _Hands Down_ by Dashboard Confessional, _Dark Blue _by Jack's Mannequin and _The Girl _by City And Colour. The _Yellow _cover Olette was playing on the drive home is performed by Jem._


	8. Listen Up

_A/N: New car to search up: Jaguar XF._

_--_

**Listen Up.**

Like most Sundays, this Sunday dragged on by, and Naminé grew impatient with every passing minute. Because she finished her homework on Friday she had absolutely nothing to do; she tried taking her frustration out in the studio but she only ended up slashing across the canvas with angry shades of red.

"Argh," The blonde cried out as she rolled over on her stomach, her hands running through her hair, "Hate, hate, _hate _Sundays!" She hopped off her bed and turned on the music player on her computer, trying to find good music to listen to, but most of the songs were either too happy or sad - there was nothing in between. There was not a lot of angry music either.

"Nami?" Kairi's voice was muffled against her door; Naminé dashed over to open it. "I heard you yelling. Are you okay?"

"Yes, yes," The blonde sighed and trudged back to her bed, "I'm just...just impatient. I want Monday to come _now." _She fell face first into her pillows and heaved a big, defeated sigh. "I want to know, Kairi...so bad."

"Aw," Kairi sat down beside her cousin and patted her head comfortingly. "Maybe if we find something to do it'll pass the time quicker. Want me to call Sora? I don't think he's doing anything today."

Naminé was willing to do anything, so she nodded her head against the pillows. "Sure," Her voice was muffled against the soft sheets, "Why not?"

Kairi fished her phone out of her pocket and immediately dialed Sora's number. "Hey you," She grinned, "Are you doing anything today?" There was a pause; Naminé could hear Sora's voice from the other line, "Oh, really? Why didn't you tell me?!"

The blonde immediately sat up. "Huh? What happened?"

Kairi rolled her eyes, but it was directed towards Sora. "Well, I'm surprised. Happy? ...Of course you have to! Yes, right now!" Kairi's expression suddenly lit up, and her eyes flitted over to Naminé for a split second. "Oh, that's fine - that's great, actually. Alright, alright, we'll see you soon. Bye."

"What is it?" Naminé asked as Kairi slipped her phone back in her pocket.

"Sora got his license this morning," The redhead sighed as Naminé's eyes widened, "He wanted to _surprise_ me, so he didn't tell me about it - and because there was a big chance he could've failed, since he stopped taking classes so long ago. He's with Riku right now; the both of them are coming here in a couple of minutes."

"Oh, that sounds fun." Naminé tugged at her hair; she was happy that Sora and Riku were coming, but she really wanted to see somebody else at the moment. "Er, no word on Ro-"

"Leave it for Monday, Nami." Her cousin smirked; she stood up and pulled Naminé up with her. "C'mon, we might as well wait for them outside."

"We're not staying here?" The blonde asked confusedly as Kairi tugged her down the hallway.

"What the heck is there to do here?" Kairi laughed as they descended the staircase, "When you've got a car, you take advantage of it!" She pushed open the large wooden doors and skipped over to the steps. "Ah, it's so nice out too."

The sun felt nice on Naminé's face as she moved to sit beside her cousin. The breeze was nice too, and it whipped across her thin t-shirt as she sat patiently beside Kairi, keeping her eyes on the roundabout. She wondered what kind of expensive, shiny car Sora was driving.

"I wonder what Roxas is doing today." She suddenly blurted out; Kairi turned to face her, and the blonde immediately pressed her hands over her mouth.

"Sunday will never end if you don't stop thinking about him!" The redhead scolded, but she was smiling in amusement.

"I know, I know," Naminé groaned through her fingers, "I need to stop, but I can't. It's so hard."

"Aw, you must really like him." The blonde shot her cousin a glare, but Kairi only laughed. "You have to trust him, Nami. I know him well enough to say that he probably has a logical explanation."

As Naminé opened her mouth to reply a bright red car strolled in front of them. The window of the passenger door rolled down, revealing a grinning Riku. "Look, we made it in one piece!"

"Shaddup!" Sora protested from the driver's seat. The girls giggled as they climbed into the back.

"Hey guys," Kairi smiled, "Wow Sora, I thought you wanted the Porsche."

"I did," The brunet grumbled, "But Riku said it was a chick car."

"It is," Riku replied nonchalantly as Kairi burst into a fit of laughter, "I haven't really seen _any_ guy in their right mind drive around with a 911 before...at least not around here." He swiveled around in his seat to face Naminé; when his eyes met hers she flushed and stared down at her lap. "When I said I hoped to see you soon I didn't think it would be _this_ soon."

"Y-yeah." Naminé smiled shyly, her hand tugging at her hair.

"So, where to?" Sora asked as he shifted the gear into drive. He pushed a CD into the stereo and a fast, catchy rock song began to play.

"Why don't we take Naminé to Common Ground?" Riku suggested. Kairi and Sora nodded eagerly, and the blonde's head tilted to the side.

"Common Ground?"

"It's our usual hangout spot for just the three of us," Kairi replied as Sora exited the Hinomoto property, "Since you're stuck with us for the rest of the high school we might as well show you."

"It's a coffee shop," Sora yelled over the music, which began to pick up in pace and volume, "S'not very far from here - just a couple of blocks away."

Minutes later the car pulled up into a little plaza with a convenience store and a quirky looking coffee shop; overhead was a big sign that read 'Common Ground' in white, typewriter-like font. The four exited the car and began to make their way towards the glass doors.

"Coffee and expensive cars," Naminé mumbled to herself as she eyed the other cars in the parking lot, "This is the life of the wealthy."

"Sure is," Riku's voice popped up from beside her and she almost jumped in surprise, "Might as well get used to it. Like Kairi said, you're stuck with us."

The interior of the little café was very sleek looking; the walls were a dark, sleepy purple and the floors were grey granite. There were little booths everywhere; some people were chatting quietly amongst themselves and others were typing away at their laptops. Soft music was playing through black speakers attached to the walls. The four moved to sit at a booth by the wide window; Naminé assumed that this was their 'usual' booth too.

"Usual?" Riku glanced over towards Kairi and she nodded; he looked over to Sora and he did the same thing. "What about you, Naminé?"

"Er," She grabbed the menu and scanned it quickly. "I'm not really much of a coffee drinker-"

"Really?" Sora held up his hand and Naminé grinned as she high-fived it. "I suggest getting one of the smoothies, then. They're really good."

"Okay, I think I'll settle for the strawberry kiwi." She flattened the menu on the table and Riku nodded.

"Cool - Kairi, come help me order the stuff." The redhead jumped up from her seat and walked with Riku over to the counter, where the barista was. Naminé stared at them for a second, and then she looked over to Sora, who was fiddling with a straw. Looking at him reminded her of Saturday…

"Oh!" Sora glanced upwards as she gasped; she leaned forward to peer at him a little more closely. "Sora, I have something to ask you, but I kinda feel bad at the same time…"

"Huh? I don't see anything to feel guilty for." The brunet tossed the straw away and smiled. "Go on, shoot. What is it?"

"Well," Naminé reached for her hair, "On Saturday, when I saw your brother Riku didn't look very pleased for some reason. I thought he was angry at Axel for something, but then when I asked Kairi about it she said it was really about Roxas. She said that something happened between them...because of her. She wouldn't say anything more about it, though."

"Oh?" Sora looked confused for a minute, but then he suddenly remembered something and his eyes widened. _"Oh."_

The blonde's cheeks reddened and she played with her fingers. "You don't have to tell me if you don't want-"

"No, no, it's okay," Sora smiled, "Kairi would've told you if it wasn't so hard to explain. I'll try my best for you."

"Are you sure? What if Kairi gets upset?"

"She won't," He assured her, "I'm pretty sure she was planning to tell you once she found the right words. Anyway," His eyes wandered over to Riku and Kairi, who were still standing by the counter, "Riku and I...we're best friends _and_ worst enemies. If you think I'm competitive with my brother, you should see me and Riku. We hardly agree on anything."

Naminé raised an eyebrow. "What does that have to do with Roxas and Riku?"

Sora grinned sheepishly. "I'm getting there. There was one point where Riku and I liked Kairi at the same time, and that led to us sort of fighting over her. It went on for a very long time...it lasted almost the entire time we were in middle school."

"Wow."

"I know - sometimes it got really bad, to the point where we'd actually _fight_ fight...but Riku was - and still is -stronger than me, so I always came home with a busted lip or a black eye." The brunet shook his head at the old memories. "I kept it secret from my mom and my brother, telling them that I was just being stupid and I fell off my bike or something like that, but you can't really fool Roxas. He pressured me into telling him what was really going on.

"Eventually I caved and told him about Riku and he got really angry. He told me that friendships shouldn't be ruined because of a girl, regardless of whether you're good friends with her or not."

"Which is true," Naminé agreed, "Real friends don't let anything come in between them."

Sora nodded. "That's right, but we were too dumb and self-absorbed to realize it at the time. Roxas wanted to confront Riku about it but I kept holding him back, telling him that he didn't stand a chance. Riku's older and he was bigger than him - I didn't see my brother winning at all."

"Wait," Naminé shook her head, "Riku's _older?"_

The brunet laughed. "Yeah, but only by a year. Anyway, this was before I knew about The XIII, so I thought that Roxas had absolutely no chance of standing up to Riku. Plus he only stayed with us for two months a year, and when he was here he was always out with his gang, so I thought he wouldn't even have the time to do it. He finally confronted him during the summer of our second last year of middle school, when I had him and Kairi over one day." Sora paused for a minute, scratching his head and frowning. "It was pretty bad; they fought for a really long time, and I tried stopping them but it was no use. Kairi was crying really hard."

The picture Naminé had in mind was definitely not a pretty one. "So Roxas wanted to protect you, which was why he chose to fight Riku?"

"Yeah - I felt guilty afterwards because it really wasn't his fight, and I just hate fighting in general. I don't really remember who won, or how it even ended. The both of them were beat up pretty badly though, and I remember Riku just leaving." Sora sighed and shook his head. "It was at least a year before we started talking again. Roxas is kind of peeved that we're talking, but Riku and I are best friends - I can't just stop...but at the same time I know Roxas is only looking out for me."

"What's that about Roxas?" Kairi had returned with Sora and Naminé's smoothies; Riku was paying for the drinks, so he was still at the counter.

"Erm," Naminé hesitated; Sora was guiltily rubbing his head, "Sora told me...about...y'know. Riku and Roxas." She ducked her head and held her fists to her chest, closing her eyes. "Don't get mad, it's my fault I asked."

To her surprise the redhead laughed and shook her head. "Nah, I'm not angry. You were gonna find out eventually, anyway." She moved closer to Sora and sipped at his drink; he glared at her but chose not to say anything. "Just don't mention anything about Roxas when Riku's around, and vice versa."

"Why do they hate each other so much? It's not like Roxas was the one who, er, liked you."

"Ah, you know how boys are," Kairi giggled as she stole a second sip from Sora's smoothie, "They never want to admit who lost to who."

"Back," Riku was holding two steaming mugs of coffee; he handed Kairi hers as he sat down. "What were you guys talking about?"

"School," Kairi answered casually as Naminé and Sora stuttered nervously, "Did Nami ever tell you how horrible she was in Gym?"

_"Kairi!" _What a horrible coverup that turned out to be.

Riku was hiding his grin behind his mug. "Please explain."

The foursome spent the rest of the afternoon chatting lightly amongst themselves, picking random topics from the tops of their heads. They ranted about school and their parents, and they enthralled on their favourite movies, bands and actors. By the time they agreed to call it a day the sky was already beginning to darken.

"See?" Kairi grinned at her cousin as they watched Sora's bright red car speed out of the roundabout, "That killed a lot of time, didn't it?"

"Yeah," Naminé agreed as they made their way upstairs, "But now that Riku and Sora are gone I'm starting to think about it again."

"That's where I come in," Kairi grinned; she unexpectedly pushed her cousin into her room. The redhead skipped over a pile of clothes and turned on her stereo. "It's amazing how you can't get him out of your head, and you've known him for only a few days."

"I know," Naminé groaned as she fell backwards on Kairi's bed, "This has never happened to me before. I hate it." She rolled on her side and grabbed a pillow. "What if he's not keeping his end of the bargain?" Suddenly she cried out in frustration and tossed the pillow aside. "Ah, who even cares about that now - who the hell was that girl?!"

"Monday is coming soon, don't worry." Kairi said as she sat down beside her, "And trust me, Roxas is probably smoke-free. He won't break a promise, especially to you."

The blonde's pale cheeks darkened into a deep scarlet. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"Oh, you know what I mean." Kairi laughed. Naminé rolled her eyes and threw a pillow at her.

She stayed in her cousin's room for a few more hours or so, and then she decided that it was time to head to bed. Of course it was a little difficult to get to sleep since she could not stop thinking about Roxas and the black-haired girl, and just when she thought she was ready to fall asleep the first rays of sunlight began to leak through the curtains and she moaned in protest, shielding her eyes with the back of her hand. The sheets were twisted around her body from rolling around all night, and her eyes were bloodshot.

"Ugh," She muttered to no one in particular as she trudged to the shower; she cranked the water to the coldest possible to wake her up. She dressed languidly and hoisted her bag over her shoulder; it felt like it was stuffed with bricks.

"You look lovely this morning." Kairi snickered as she sipped her milk. Naminé made a face as she poured herself some cereal.

"Shush, you."

"Well, it's finally Monday at least, so that means you can talk to him about it, right?"

"Hopefully," The blonde replied as she quickly scooped some cereal into her mouth. "I don't want to go through another sleepless night."

The girls quickly finished their breakfast and raced towards the Maybach. Too tired to start a conversation, Naminé pressed her head against the window and closed her eyes. Her body felt heavy from lack of sleep, and everything seemed to be moving in slow motion. She had no idea how she was going to do Gym today.

"Nami," Kairi murmured, and the blonde opened her eyes; they were already at school. She clambered out of the car and yawned, stretching her arms.

"Wow, Naminé," Sora commented as the girls approached the student centre, "You look really out of it."

"Couldn't sleep," She grumbled as she rubbed at her eyes with her knuckles, "Where's Roxas?"

"Er," The brunet rubbed the back of his head and stared at his shoes, "He said he's gonna be running a little late today - he had something to do first."

Naminé swore she could feel steam coming out of her ears. "You've _got_ to be kidding me!" She growled, hitting her forehead with the heel of her palm, "That idiot!"

Kairi doubled over in laughter. "What a coincidence."

"What?" Sora raised an eyebrow, "What's going on?"

"Nothing, nothing." The blonde closed her eyes and mentally counted to ten, making sure that she was taking deep breaths. She opened her eyes after ten and forced on a calm smile. "Do you know when he's coming to school, at least?"

"Yeah," Sora checked his phone for the time, "He said he'd be here around lunchtime. C'mon, we better head to homeroom."

"See you in Math, Nami." Kairi waved goodbye and ran off. The blonde was grumbling to herself the entire way to homeroom, and Sora just walked beside her in silence, completely confused.

Homeroom was agonizingly slow without Roxas around and Naminé found it difficult to concentrate because she was so tired. She ended up dozing off for the second half of class; luckily the bell was loud enough to wake her up. She nearly tripped over her own feet as she left History, and she almost fell down the stairs twice. Lacking sleep made her even more clumsy than usual.

"You really need a nap." Kairi said worriedly as the blonde thunked her head down on her desk during Math.

"No, I really just need to have everything figured out." She groaned against her desk.

"Sora said he'll be here by lunch, right? Sit tight!" Kairi assured her; she reached to rub Naminé comfortingly on the back. The blonde sighed and banged her head against the desk.

Did Roxas deliberately plan to _not_ show up for the first half of the day because he knew she saw him on Saturday, or was Sora really telling the truth? Kairi kept telling her that he would not lie to her and that whatever reasons he had was probably real, but Naminé could not help but feel some doubt. She knew she should believe Kairi because she knew him longer than she had, and of course Sora because he was his brother, but still, something did not feel right. What if he was with that girl right now? The thought of that made her chest contract painfully, and she clutched at it subconsciously.

It felt like years had passed once the bell for lunch rang; Naminé immediately leapt from her seat and nearly raced out the classroom. The anticipation to see Roxas was so bad right now - she no longer felt confused or angry towards him; she just wanted to see his face, hear his voice. She wanted to hear her name on his lips again, and to feel his fingers sweeping against her neck as he tossed her hair over her shoulder.

The cool autumn air was refreshing to her as she left the SM Wing; Naminé sucked in a deep lungful of it and sighed in relief. The classroom felt suffocating.

"Nami," Kairi was staring past her shoulder. The blonde felt her heart pounding painfully against her ribcage, and she turned around slowly.

He stood a few feet away from her with his hands in his pockets; the usual plastic bag was dangling from one arm. The wind breezed through his already tousled dark blond spikes, and that tingly feeling in her fingertips returned. His eyes - so blue, that burning blue that threatened to take her in and claim her as their own - were soft, almost sad. Only one corner of his perfect mouth was angled upwards in that usual crooked grin.

"Naminé," She had forgotten how beautiful her name sounded with his voice, and all thoughts of Saturday were completely forgotten. She stepped forward slowly, cautiously, her heart pumping furiously. The blood thudded in her ears as she took in his perfection from a closer view. His eyes, warm with an emotion she would not dare utter out loud, smiled down at her and he reached for her hand. The second they came in contact thousands of rounds of electric bolts were sent coursing through every corner and crevasse of her body.

Roxas pulled her past the student centre, gentle as always, towards their usual spot up in the bleachers of the soccer field. She wordlessly sat in front of him, watching his hands smooth the shoulders of his blazer over her small frame. He bent over to reach for her sandwich, and she accepted it like she always did, but she did not feel very hungry. All she wanted to do was stare at him.

"You're chock-full of things to say today, aren't you? Maybe it has to do with why you look so tired." His low, husky voice was laced with a smirk; she glanced upwards to see him grinning at her, and her cheeks heated up. His sarcastic attitude reminded her of what she wanted to ask him, and she managed to shake out the worst of her daze.

"I saw you on Saturday," Naminé said softly, her chicory blues stuck on her sandwich, "With Axel...and agirlididntrecognize." She mumbled the last part so quickly she was not sure if he caught onto it, but as usual he never ceased to amaze her.

In fact he did more than just amaze her this time; he suddenly threw his head back and let out a loud peal of ringing yet nerve-grating laughter - he was _amused_ by this? The frustration and confusion that consumed her earlier came flooding back into her veins, and she nearly ruined her sandwich by gripping it too hard.

"Just what exactly do you find _funny_ about all of this?" She threw her sandwich back inside the bag and stood up to appear taller than him, to gain the higher ground, but at the same time she could feel the corners of her eyes stinging and a dull aching beginning to grow in the pit of her chest, "I don't know what's been happening lately, but I've only known you for less than a week and somehow I'm beating myself up over the fact that I wasn't going to see you over the weekend because you had _really important things to attend to,_ and then on Saturday what do I see? You with some girl curled up against you!"There was a throbbing in her throat now, and she knew the tears were threatening to fall.

Roxas stood up; being at least a head taller than her, it made her feel very insignificant. He reached for her, but she shrunk away. The hurt resonating in his cobalt hues was obvious to see and she felt her heart go out to him, but the logical part of her insisted she stood her ground. "I told you that it wasn't _that_ important, but I couldn't back out of it last minute." He shook his head amusedly, "You never really pay attention, do you?" She suppressed the urge to smack him as he casually ran his fingers through his hair. "Why are you so concerned, anyway? Are you jealous?"

"I don't want to listen to this anymore." Naminé spun around to leave, but she felt his warm hand curling around her wrist and her feet felt permanently attached to the bleacher floors. She spun around to face him again; he sighed and ruffled his hair with his free hand.

"Her name's Xion," His tone was dripping with guilt, "And she's a new recruit. Axel and I were taking her over to Xemnas. I went to school with her; we're good friends."

That did not really make her feel better, but she refused to let it show. She narrowed her eyes and glared at the floor as he continued; she sniffled as she watched the tears drip off the end of her chin. "G-go on." She muttered, her voice cracking.

"Wait," She looked up and saw that Roxas was attempting to reach out to her again, "Please, before I continue...I want you to stop crying." He released his hand from her wrist and moved it to cup one side of her face; she froze, her eyes searching his. "It's killing me right now, knowing that I'm the one who's making you do this." He reached up with his other hand and gently brushed the tears away. "I'm sorry, Naminé. I don't want to hurt you. I never wanted to."

She came to her senses and stepped away from his grasp, swiping at her eyes to rid them of those bothersome tears. "I'm still waiting for an explanation."

He nodded in understanding. "Right, that's only fair." He sat back down, and she followed suit. "Xion's a childhood friend, and she was just recently accepted into...you know. I'm the only one she knows," He sighed when Naminé did not appear convinced, "You don't believe me, do you?"

The blonde relaxed her expression and shrugged her shoulders; her eyes dropped to her shoes and she could feel the tears returning. "I...I want to, more than anything," She mumbled, "But at the same time I don't know if I can. The few days I've spent with you, getting to know you and everything - I don't regret any of them, but _this_ just has to happen when I think I can trust you, and it's got me so confused…I don't even know why I'm feeling like this."

He smirked and she felt the embers of anger returning, but then he shook his head and leaned forward; he placed his hands on either side of her face and brushed his thumbs underneath her eyes, wiping away the last of her tears. "Xion's a friend and nothing more," He leaned in slowly, teasingly; she felt his forehead against hers and his warm breath fanning her skin, "She's not my type, anyway."

Naminé's heart was pounding so hard she thought it was going to break a hole in her chest. Her eyes fluttered half-closed as her hands moved to press themselves against his chest. She eyed the navy and silver stripes running across his silk black tie; she was forcing herself to keep her stare away from his penetrating gaze. "Then," She murmured, her fingers running along the edge of his collar, "What _is_ your type of girl?"

He leaned in again, and this time they were so close she could feel his lips grazing against hers. The blood pulsed sporadically in her ears and her eyes drooped to a full close, but instead of getting what she thought was coming he suddenly turned his head and sighed against her hair, shifting downwards and resting his chin on her shoulder. Her eyes snapped open in surprise and confusion, but she really could not complain; they were still physically close, and that was what mattered, right? She felt his hands leave her face and they trailed downwards, skimming down her arms and pressing lightly against her lower back. The position they were in...it felt fitting, like it was supposed to be like this.

"Do you really want to know?" He murmured against her neck; the sensation was overwhelming and she shivered, but it was not from the chilly autumn air. She nodded dumbly, her head moving slowly against the side of his. She felt his lips move against her skin again, this time in her favourite mischievous smirk. His voice was low, soft and strangely seductive, and with every word he spoke it sent tremors down her spine.

"Clumsy, artistic blondes."

--

_A/N: Sora was listening to _Online Songs _by blink-182._

_This chapter was written with the help of _Hear Me Out _by Frou Frou._


	9. Waiting

_A/N: Thanks for the reviews so far! They're greatly appreciated XD_

--

**Waiting.**

"Guess what?" There was a very noticeable bounce to Naminé's step as she and Roxas made their way to homeroom the next morning.

He chuckled at her eagerness and turned to smile at her. "What?"

"Today's Tuesday."

Roxas shook his head amusedly. "You were waiting for this, weren't you?"

The blonde smiled shyly, her cheeks a faint pink. "Don't make it look like I was the only one waiting for it - I know you were too, Mister _'If-I'm-Clean-By-Next-Tuesday-I'll-Take-You-Out'."_

He laughed as he held the door to History for her. "So what do you think? Do you really believe I've gone through seven days without smoking at all? You've already made the observation that I'm a little too still for someone trying to quit cold turkey."

Naminé raised an eyebrow. "Are you implying something?"

"No, of course not," He replied casually as he sat down, "I was just wondering if you believe I'm actually clean."

She frowned as she bent over to pull out her binder and textbook from her bag. "Well, the way you're wording things...it's making me think you're not."

"Hm, I see." He flipped his textbook open, his face unreadable. She huffed in frustration as she zipped open her pencil case.

"Why can't you ever give me a straight answer?" Her chicory blues narrowed suspiciously.

"Because I enjoy making you frustrated," Roxas grinned as she rolled her eyes, "Your expression is priceless."

"You think every one of my expressions are priceless." She muttered; she felt her cheeks heating up and she tried to hide it by lowering her head onto her desk.

"I wouldn't lie to you." She heard him chuckle again before Mr. Watanabe started roll call. History was slow-paced as usual, and with Roxas refusing to give her a straight answer on whether he smoked in the past seven days or not Naminé's impatience only worsened. She heckled him the entire way to Math, and as usual she stormed over to Kairi, who poked fun at her for the entire period. Roxas sat at the back like he always did, annoying her from afar by occasionally whistling or stealing glances at her from the corner of his eye.

"He's smart for playing around with you," Kairi giggled, "It makes you anticipate more."

"Great, now you're on his side?" Naminé muttered as she mashed the buttons on her calculator, "I thought I could trust you!"

"I am on your side, Nami, but it's kind of easy to see where he's coming from." The redhead shook her head again as Roxas resumed whistling, "It's cute, the way he's flirting with you."

The word _flirting _made the blonde's cheeks darken. "Ugh, please don't use those kinds of words around me…"

"Well, what other word am I supposed to use? You guys have practically been at the flirting stage since you first met!" Kairi laughed, "I'm telling you, Nami - whether he's clean or not it's meant to be."

"Shaddup." The tips of her ears were burning now, and the soft whistling from behind only made her aggravation worse. Lunch rolled around and Roxas dragged her over to the soccer stadium as usual; again he refused to give her a straight answer.

"Why is it so hard to be honest with me?" She cried as he smirked victoriously at her, "You're beginning to become a real pain in the-"

"If I didn't tell you anything in the first place how could I be lying to you?" The things he said sometimes made her feel incredibly stupid. He smiled and leaned forward to nuzzle his head against the side of hers, and her spine tingled. "I keep my promises, Naminé." He breathed in deep; his lips were dangerously close to her neck.

She leaned away from him, her fingertips numb and her heart pulsing irregularly. His dark blue eyes were so beautiful, and they threatened to pull her in as she stumbled over her words. "Er, so...are you saying that you haven't...smoked?"

When he nodded, her cheeks darkened and her ears burned. "Mmhmm. I'm totally clean." He pulled out a couple of sticks of sea-salt ice cream. "These really work their wonders when you're trying to quit."

Naminé licked absently at ice cream, her eyes wandering towards his perfect face. "Erm...so I guess that means we're, uh, g-going…" She could not bring herself to finish the sentence; her face felt incredibly hot and her stare dropped from his eyes to her shoes. She heard Roxas laugh again and her blush intensified.

"Yes, we'll be going out this Friday. Just you and me." His forehead suddenly came in contact with hers and she glanced upwards to stare into his cobalt hues. "How does that make you feel?"

"Uh-" She gulped and pulled away from him; she tried distracting her thoughts by licking on her popsicle some more. "-er, it makes me f-feel…"

Roxas sighed and dumped his popsicle stick into the plastic bag. He reached forward to tuck a lock of hair behind her ear, and she froze as she felt his fingers skim across her neck. His hand lingered there for a few moments, and then he dropped it. "You don't know how much I love it when you fumble like that." He shook his head amusedly, "It's adorable."

Suddenly the memory of Kairi mentioning something about flirting popped into Naminé's head, and she nearly dropped her popsicle. Her eyes darted from her popsicle, to Roxas' face, to her lap and then to his face again. He was laughing at her as usual, and it made her cheeks burn up even more. "I hate you."

"Of course you do." He grinned, and she exhaled sharply in aggravation.

"So what are we going to do Friday?" She tossed her popsicle stick into the bag and hugged herself underneath his blazer. He smirked and leaned forward to help her arms through the sleeves; they were too long for her and they drooped past her fingers, so she had to push them back a little.

"I'm not telling." His grin broadened and she narrowed her eyes. "It's going to be a surprise."

"Not fair!" She stomped her foot as he broke into another peal of ringing laughter. Roxas sighed and reached for her hands; he laced their fingers together and her heart, which was already beating quite quickly to begin with, pulsed even faster.

"Don't worry about it so much," He smiled, and her eyes dropped to their hands, "It's not like it'll be anything bad. Just think of it as something to anticipate for."

"You've kept me waiting for today," She grumbled, "Only to make me wait some more?"

He stood up, pulling her up with her. "Yes, that's exactly it." He led her down the bleachers and into the Arts Wing, where they were about to have English. The period passed quicker with Sora and Hayner, and when it was time for Gym Naminé did not mind so much since Roxas decided to pair up with her this time (though she kept to running around aimlessly while he did the actual playing). As she ran back and forth on the court she made sure she had a clear view of her partner out of the corner of her eye; she watched the way he ran with an effortless grace despite the fact that he was an ex-smoker, the way his biceps looked as he raised his racket in the air to smack the birdie, how perfectly chiseled his calves were, how she could almost make out the form of his smooth chest underneath his white shirt…

"Nami?"

The blonde shook out of her daydream and found herself looking at her redheaded cousin, who was staring back at her with a raised eyebrow. Somehow Gym had ended and she was back at her locker.

"Er, what now?" She blinked dazedly; Sora snapped his fingers in front of her face and her eyes widened a little more, but she still looked like she was daydreaming.

"She's completely out of it." The brunet smirked; Kairi sighed and pulled Naminé out of the SS Wing to find Roxas outside flipping around on his skateboard.

"Really, what's the point of bringing that when you can drive?" Sora grumbled as his brother executed a perfect kickflip, "You're just trying to show off."

"I would never do such a thing," Roxas grinned as he slammed his foot on the tail of his skateboard; the front flipped upwards and he caught it with ease. "Showing off is rude." He turned towards Naminé, who instantly blushed and turned away. "Plus, you were the one that drove today."

"Oh, right." Sora laughed nervously and rubbed the back of his head as Kairi sighed and shook hers, "I'll go get the car, then."

"There's your ride," Roxas was staring at the Maybach strolling into the roundabout; he turned around and gave Naminé his usual impish grin, and her blush worsened. "I'll see you tomorrow."

"Bye guys," Kairi had to push her cousin into the car because she was not moving at all. The redhead shook her head amusedly. "You're head over heels, aren't you?"

"N-no!" Naminé seemed to have finally returned to earth; she pulled her fingers through her hair and tried to avoid Kairi's mocking stare, but it was futile. She sighed in defeat and threw herself against the back of the leather seat. "What is _wrong_ with me? This isn't like me at all!"

"Oh, the wonders of young love," Kairi giggled, and Naminé narrowed her eyes. "So I'm guessing Friday's on?"

"Yes," The blonde sighed in both contentment and defeat, "It is. He's got something planned - that idiot _knew_ he was going to win this bet."

"Once Roxas sets his eyes on something he doesn't stop 'till get gets what he wants," Kairi replied casually as Naminé gaped at her, "I don't mean that in a bad way, of course. I'm just saying he's very determined. It's still pretty romantic how he's turning around for you - maybe he'll even quit The XIII!"

"I don't think I'm making _that_ much of a difference around here," Naminé rolled her eyes. The Maybach arrived at the Hinomoto manor soon afterwards and the girls worked on their homework together in Naminé's room, and of course Kairi decided to continue prodding the poor blonde about Roxas.

"So what exactly do you guys talk about during lunch, anyway?" The redhead asked as she booted up the music player on her cousin's laptop.

"Nothing special," Naminé replied; she was on her bed, rolled over on her stomach, "He likes teasing me a lot, though."

"Well, he's teasing you further by making you wait all the way until Friday," Kairi giggled, "He really likes making you wait, doesn't he?"

"I mentioned that during lunch, and he only laughed it off." Naminé grumbled. "Friday seems so far away from now...this is going to be worse than the _last_ time he made me wait."

"At least this time you'll be waiting for something good," Kairi grinned, "And now we have plenty of time to decide what you're gonna be wearing!"

"What does it matter?" Naminé rolled her eyes, "It's not like my outfit will determine anything."

The redhead gaped at her cousin. "Of course it will! It's all about first impressions, Nami. The point is to capture his attention, to make him feel like you're _trying_ to get him to look at you!"

"What, is going casual not in these days or something?"

"No," Kairi switched the song on the computer to something more upbeat, "But what if he's taking you to a fancy restaurant or something? I'm saying you should dress up, but don't go overboard. You wanna keep it nice, but fun and flirty at the same time."

Naminé's eye twitched at the mention of the word 'flirty'. "Well, I don't really have to worry about that for awhile - I still have a couple of days. Maybe I can force him into telling me what we're doing."

"I highly doubt you will," Kairi laughed, "This is Roxas we're talking about here."

The rest of the evening passed by slowly, due to Naminé's anticipation for Friday. She desperately searched the entire manor for something to do, but nothing entertained her long enough. She could not even paint or draw because it would take too long to make a piece look nice - and she used to be such a patient person too…

Naminé's patience had already thinned to the extreme by Wednesday morning. She was grumbling to herself in the kitchen as Kairi poured milk into her cereal. There were dark circles under the blonde's eyes from not sleeping the night before, and her right eye was slightly twitching.

"Er," The redhead started nervously; she was afraid that if she said something wrong her cousin would snap, "How much milk-"

"I'll do it." Naminé snatched the milk away and poured a little too much into her bowl; her cereal became soggy within seconds. She wordlessly shoved the spoon into her mouth, eating her cereal in an angry silence. She felt her cousin's eyes on her, but she did not bother to say anything.

"You need to cut out on that temper of yours, you know," Kairi lectured as they clambered into the Maybach, "It's not going to help you - and the way you keep scrunching your forehead like that, you'll get wrinkles."

The blonde sighed and thunked the side of her head against the tinted window. "I just hate doing all this waiting," She complained, "The more I wait the more desperate I get, and it's obvious that this is what he wants - his smug attitude gives it away."

"But it'll all pay off in the end, right? Don't let it bother you so much, Nami," Her cousin assured her, "It'll only make him feel more smug if you let your frustration show."

"You're right," Naminé sighed, "But...I don't know, there's just something about the way he tells me things." A blush crept up her cheeks and she began to play with her hands. "I may be angry now, but I know that the moment I look at him I'll feel something completely different. I just can't say no to him."

"Oh, you are _so_ cute." Kairi giggled and leaned in to hug the blonde, who groaned in protest and tried to wriggle away. The car pulled up at the front of the student centre, where the Katsura twins waited for them as usual. Roxas opened the door and helped Naminé out; his warm touch made heat flare to her cheeks.

"Good morning," He spotted the circles underneath her eyes and raised an eyebrow. "Did you sleep well?"

Naminé yawned as Kairi and Sora laced their fingers together and leaned in to lock lips, "Not really, thanks to you." She noticed that Roxas' hand did not leave hers and her blush worsened.

"Why is it always my fault?" He sounded appalled, but at the same time he was grinning.

Naminé rolled her eyes as they walked towards the SS Wing together with their hands still intertwined. "Because you're practically demolishing my patience," His grin only broadened, and she suppressed the urge to swear at him, "All this waiting is driving me crazy."

"Good." He ruffled his hair with his free hand as they walked up the steps together. His perfection was taking hold of her again, but she tried to resist; she sucked in a breath so she would not smell the alluring scent of his cologne and shampoo. His gentle grip on her hand tugged her down the hallway towards their first class of the day; he sat beside her as usual, ignoring the conspicuous whispering around them. She tried to hint at clues about Friday but he was quite firm in not saying anything, either speaking very vaguely or just plain ignoring the question.

"You're not being very fair," Naminé complained for the umpteenth time as they made their way towards Math; she inwardly acknowledged the fact that they were again holding hands, "I should get in on this too - I'm the one you're taking out on Friday!"

"Exactly," Roxas replied casually as he opened the door for her, "Which is why I have to keep it a secret. I told you for the billionth time this morning - it's a surprise."

Lunch was not very different, except for the fact that Naminé's patience was worn down to nearly nothing. She munched stubbornly on her sandwich, her eyes glaring at the blond sitting in front of her, who was grinning with a popsicle sticking out of his mouth.

"You're cute when you're angry," He commented as he threw his blazer around her small shoulders, "I should infuriate you more often."

His remark forced her cheeks to blush a furious red and she knew he could see it because he was laughing again. "You're lucky I'm not violent when I'm angry, unlike Kairi." She muttered pathetically as she reached in the plastic bag for her popsicle.

After chucking his popsicle stick into the plastic bag he leaned in and chuckled; the tips of their noses were bumping against each other. Naminé's ears were filled with the blunt thudding of her racing heartbeat. "Like you'd stand a chance against me, anyway." His low, seductive murmur almost sent her into cardiac arrest.

"Psh," She backed away quickly, though her cheeks were still flushed tomato red, "Just 'cause you're in a gang doesn't mean you're tough. Look at you - hanging out with a _girl_ during lunchtime, acting all gentlemanly and everything…" She glanced at him from the corner of her eye and inwardly cursed herself when she saw his cheeky grin, "I bet the whole gang thing is just a cover! You're probably a real softie on the inside."

Roxas' eyes suddenly cast to his shoes and he looked completely heartbroken; she suppressed the urge to leap into his arms and apologize, for she knew that this was just another one of his stupid games. "Ouch," He looked up from underneath his eyelashes, "You saw right through me, Naminé."

"Oh, stop it," The blonde rolled her eyes, though she still could not help but feel guilty for some reason, "You're just trying to make me feel bad for you."

"Is it working?" He looked up momentarily, and she instantly turned away. "I'll take that as a yes." He smiled and reached for their hands; she inhaled sharply as she felt his fingers weave with hers.

"You were kidding when you said I saw right through you, right?" Naminé asked softly as he brought one of their joined hands to his mouth; her eyes widened and her heart thudded even faster when she felt his lips graze her knuckles. "'C-cause...y'know...er, j-just making sure…"

He chuckled quietly and leaned in to press the side of his head against hers; he nodded against her hair. "Yes, yes I was," He whispered into her ear, "But I think you're right about the second part." His hands left hers and he slid his arms around her waist, pulling her closer. She felt his face against her neck and she exhaled shakily, unsure of what to do. Her heart was pounding painfully now, and her cheeks were white-hot.

"I…" She gulped; she was beginning to feel a little lightheaded and she leaned forward, resting against him. She sighed into his shirt and he lifted his head off her shoulder to tuck her underneath his chin. His cologne wafted into her nose and she sighed again as she hugged his upper body.

"Mmm," His voice was a low rumble in the centre of his chest, "This feels nice."

She closed her eyes against him and breathed in deep, relishing in his scent. His heart beat was slow and steady in comparison to her wild, fluttering one; she wondered how he kept his cool when they were so close.

He released his hold on her after a short - or at least it felt like it - amount of time, but his hands returned to hers. "We better get to class." He helped her off the bleachers and she returned his blazer. Naminé's face was still red when they stepped into English; Hayner and Sora chuckled and shook their heads as she sat down at her usual desk, her hand reluctantly breaking away from Roxas'.

"Eventful lunch?" Hayner asked; Roxas was nonchalantly pulling his books out of his bag while Naminé was sitting rigidly with her arms stiff by her sides. She still could not find her voice, so she only nodded.

"Maybe you should try breathing a little, Naminé," Sora suggested, "You're turning purple."

The blonde inhaled diligently, and in an instant her face felt a few degrees cooler, but when she heard Roxas chuckling from her right her face burned up again. "I don't think anything will get rid of this," She grumbled as she pressed her forehead against her desk, "I hate, hate, _hate_ your brother for doing this to me."

"I'm right here, you know." Roxas piped up, half-indignantly and half-amusedly, and she groaned as Sora and Hayner broke into fits of stifled laughter. English was horrible, since it comprised of Hayner poking fun at her, and Roxas was definitely no help either, since he did nothing but smirk and chuckle. In Gym she was paired up with Sora, thankfully enough, and his kind demeanor made her feel a little bit better.

"I'm so glad you're not like Roxas," Naminé muttered as she ran half-heartedly behind the brunet, "You're easier to talk to."

"I'm the butt of everyone's jokes," Sora laughed as he swung to hit the birdie, "So I feel your pain. You must get the worst from Kairi, though."

"Don't even get me started." The blonde groaned, and Sora laughed again. When Gym was finished both brothers were waiting for her by the entrance to walk her to her locker as usual, and Naminé's blush returned when Roxas reached for her hand for the fourth - or was it the fifth? She could not keep count anymore - time today. When they found Kairi by the lockers the first thing the redhead laid her eyes on obviously had to be their entwined hands.

"Well, well," Kairi giggled, and Naminé flushed and turned away; Roxas was chuckling amusedly.

"Shut up, shut up," Naminé muttered as she let go of Roxas' hand to spin her lock; she hid her face behind her locker door as she stood on her tiptoes to reach for her textbooks, "Kairi, I swear-"

"Give her a break, Kairi," Sora interjected, and the blonde made a mental note to thank him later, "You're such a bully sometimes."

"What?" Kairi stepped back, appalled, "I didn't say anything bad!"

"You were implying it." Roxas added, though he was still smirking. The foursome parted at the entrance to the student centre as usual, and Kairi obviously did not take a hint to the Katsura brothers because the moment she and Naminé clambered into the Maybach she fired away with her questions.

"So what led to you guys holding hands after school, hm?" The redhead grinned as Naminé attempted to hide her blush by holding her bag up to her face, "Did something happen at lunch?"

"Er," The blonde lowered her bag a bit to stare at her cousin, who was eyeing her suspiciously, "N-not just after school…" She reached for her hair, "We sorta...held hands in between classes too."

"Cuuute," Kairi cooed and clapped her hands together, "You guys are so adorable together!"

"Don't you think this is happening a little too quickly?" Naminé asked as she lowered her bag to her lap; her hand was still tugging on her hair, "I mean...we only started talking a few days ago, and it hasn't even been two weeks since I came here-"

"But the chemistry between you is practically _exploding,"_ Her redheaded cousin insisted, "You know you can't deny that. You two have got a mutual attraction - with that, who needs time?"

The blonde frowned and pulled harder on her hair. "I dunno…"

"Well, have you expressed your concern to him at least?"

"How can I?" Naminé flopped backwards against leather seat and threw up her hands, "I can't think properly when I'm around him!"

"And I rest my case." Kairi grinned victoriously as the Maybach turned into the Hinomoto manor. The blonde was still chewing over her thoughts as she retreated into her room to start on her homework. She decided to play some music to help push her worries away, but it did not work, even when she turned up the volume.

They only met last Tuesday, and all of a sudden they were scheduled to go out together this Friday. Was there a problem with that? There had to be - it had been a little over a week and she already found it difficult to just _breathe_ around him! What if this was just some kind of trick to mess with the newcomer? Maybe he was a crazy womanizer who targeted vulnerable-looking girls, or he was doing some kind of stupid bet with Axel and his gang members.

Kairi seemed to have faith in him, however, and Sora did not seem to be against it either. They knew Roxas longer than she did so their judgement was reasonable, but still…

Naminé was so deep in thoughts that when her phone rang she nearly fell out of her chair. She scrambled over to her bag and pulled it out; her forehead pulled together in confusion as she read the call display.

"Hello?"

"Hey Naminé," She could hear the grin in Riku's voice, "What's up? You busy?"

She glanced over at her work desk. "Erm, not really - I've got homework, but it's nothing. Why?"

"Wanna grab a drink at Common Ground? Ask Kairi if she wants to come."

"Okay." The blonde left her room and knocked on her cousin's door. "Kairi?"

The door opened a little bit and Kairi's head poked out. "Hm? What is it?" She eyed the phone in Naminé's hand and her eyebrows wiggled playfully. "Ah, talking on the phone now, are you? Need help on what to say?"

Naminé rolled her eyes. "It's Riku, dummy. He's asking if you want to come out to Common Ground for a bit."

"Ah," Kairi cringed and glanced at something from behind her door, "I'd love to, but I've got a ton of homework. Tell him I'll do a raincheck!"

Her blonde cousin giggled. "Alright, I guess I'll go - I don't have a lot of homework, anyway." She trotted back into her room and held her phone up to her ear. "Kairi's busy with homework, so it'll just be me, I guess."

Riku chuckled. "That's fine - is it okay if I swing by in around ten minutes or so?"

She shrugged as she turned off her music player. "Sure. I'll wait for you outside."

"Alright. See you soon!" The line went flat and Naminé tossed her phone on the bed to run to her closet. She quickly changed into a pair of jeans, light blue sneakers and a matching t-shirt. Shoving her phone and wallet into her pockets, she jogged down the hallway and the marble staircase. She wrenched the large double doors open and stepped outside, where she was greeted with a rush of cool autumn air. Soon afterwards the sound of a roaring motorcycle engine ripped into her eardrums and she grinned as she spotted the gold and silver bike rolling into the roundabout.

"I'm kinda glad Kairi can't make it," Riku smiled once he pulled off his helmet, "I'm more of a biker than a car driver."

"No Sora either?"

"Nope - he's drowning in homework too."

Naminé pulled at her hair as she eyed the motorcycle uneasily. "Um, how am I-" He tossed her a spare helmet, and she stared at it with a raised eyebrow.

Riku laughed and shook his head, causing his long silvery locks to sway around his face. "I've taken that you never rode a motorcycle before. You're getting in right behind me."

"Er, okay." The blonde awkwardly swung one leg over the side of the motorcycle; her chest was practically pressed against his back and she blushed at their close contact. Her arms slid shyly around his waist.

"Ow, you don't have to hold on _that_ tight," Riku gasped; she flushed and immediately lessened the amount of strength in her arms, "I'm not going to surpass the speed of light, you know - we're only going down the street!"

"Sorry," She mumbled, but he laughed it off.

"It's alright." He cranked the ignition and kicked off; the motorcycle engine tore through her hearing again as they raced around and out of the roundabout, and the air was frigid as they skimmed against her bare arms. Her helmet was a little too big and her head knocked around painfully; thankfully the ride was not very long. When they reached the Jolt she instantly pulled off the gigantic helmet, but she still felt like she was wearing it. Behind her Riku was laughing.

"It takes some time to get used to the feeling," He gently took the helmet from her, "You're not as bad as Sora, at least."

"You and Sora rode on a motorcycle...together?" The thought caused Naminé to stifle a giggle.

"It's not exactly one of my fondest memories." Riku replied grimly as they walked towards the coffee shop together; they sat in the usual booth and Riku left briefly to order their drinks. The blonde sighed and rested her chin on her hand; she drew circles on the table with her index finger. The soft house music playing from the speakers overhead was soothing, and it was very warm inside the café - it was enough to lull her to sleep. She was thankful when Riku returned with her smoothie; the frigid, fruity liquid was cold enough to keep her awake.

"So," Riku was stirring his coffee, "How was school? Was Gym fun?"

"Ha-ha." Naminé sipped from her smoothie, "I didn't mess up this time - I haven't messed up since Tuesday, actually."

"I should be surprised, right?" He was smirking, and the blonde rolled her eyes. "Joking, joking. So, if Gym's not your forte then what is?"

Was he being serious when he said he was kind of glad Kairi was not able to come? "I draw and paint," The blonde replied, "Er, I guess you can say I'm more of an artsy person."

"You and Kairi really are opposites," He brushed a few silvery bangs out of his eyes, "Right down to your personalities."

She flushed. "Yeah...but we're close nonetheless. Even if she's a little pushy, I can tell her anything."

"Pushy...good word." Riku chuckled, "I know all too well about Kairi's pushyness."

She leaned forward, resting her arms on the table, and tilted her head to the side. "So you've fallen victim to Kairi's bullying ways too, eh?"

A faint tinge of pink spread across Riku's cheeks. "Yeah, many times."

An idea concocted inside of Naminé's head and she grinned to herself. "Really now? Care to share?"

"I guess I can start off by telling you that I used to like Kairi a couple years ago," Riku admitted, "Actually, scratch that - I've liked her for _way_ longer than a couple years. Sora and I fought over her for a very long time."

_He took the bait! _"But you guys seem so close now."

He scratched his head as he racked his brain for something to say. "Well, we always were close - the three of us were and always will be best friends, but there was a time when Sora and I couldn't even stand to see each other, and it was because of Kairi. We both liked her a lot...and sometimes it got really bad between us. We'd duke it out and everything."

Since she heard this part of the story before, Naminé feigned shock. "Wow."

"Yeah, I feel bad looking back on it, but back then all I cared about was getting Sora out of the picture…" Riku's eyes narrowed suddenly, catching her off guard, "And then _he_ had to step in."

_This is where it gets interesting. _"Who?"

"Roxas - Sora's sorry excuse for a twin brother," Riku spat Roxas' name as if it were poison, "He found out about what was going on and he challenged me to a fight to settle everything."

"So that's why you were all crabby when we saw him on Saturday?"

"Yeah, basically. Roxas thinks he's such a badass and all with his stupid little gang," Riku rolled his brilliant turquoise eyes and paused to take a sip of his coffee, "He thinks that leaving home for a few days and causing trouble for society will solve his problems, when really he's just worrying people that care for him. He's going nowhere in life, I'm telling you."

Naminé raised an eyebrow. "Problems? What do you mean by that?"

Riku shrugged. "Sora said that he's still kinda messed up over the divorce. That fling he had with Olette is still bothering him too, according to Sora and Kairi - another reason why I hate him," His voice hardened again, "He spends time with girls like they're on contract or something. Toying with someone's feelings like that...it's repulsing; he never spent time with her, and he knew she cared for him. Obviously his gang was more important - he always picks _them_ over his family, so why not his girlfriend too?"

If she mentioned that Roxas was the one who actually told her Riku would have probably flipped, so she reworded it a little. "Er, but didn't Kairi and Sora say that Roxas feels bad over what happened to him and Olette?"

"I guess, but if he truly did feel guilty over what he did he wouldn't still be in The XIII, would he?" Riku shrugged again, "Or maybe he and Olette would be back together."

Naminé tugged on her hair. "Y-yeah, I see your point."

"Don't try to interact with him too much," He advised, "He's someone you'd better avoid, trust me. He'll only bring you trouble."

The blonde frowned as she reached for her smoothie. "I'll try."

A somewhat awkward silence passed between the both of them; Riku was still mulling over his grudge and Naminé was completely confused over her already puzzling feelings for Roxas. After hearing Riku's side of the story she saw Roxas in a different light - was The XIII really that important to him? If anything ever happened between the both of them, would their relationship end up like the one he had with Olette? Would she stay up every night, wondering if he was out and about with Axel and Demyx and the others? And that girl - Xion - was she really just a childhood friend?

"Hey, are you done?" Riku's voice snapped her out of her thoughts, and she jerked her head upwards to look at him. "It's getting kinda late - I'll take you home."

It was a good uncomfortable five minutes on the motorcycle before they reached the manor. Naminé flushed as she handed him the spare helmet.

"Thanks for today," She smiled, "It was...enlightening."

Riku winked behind his tinted visor. "No problem - but next time, you're doing the talking!"

She flushed again and reached for her hair. "I'll try to remember. See you later."

He waved once before zipping off. The blonde shook her head as she walked inside and up the stairs, but instead of heading to her room she swerved to the right and knocked on Kairi's door.

"Oh, you're back!" The redhead let her in, and Naminé nearly tripped over a pile of jeans. "How was it?"

"Confusing," The blonde replied as she flopped belly-first onto her cousin's bed, "He told me his side of the story."

It took Kairi a few minutes to understand what she was saying. "Ohhh…" She moved to sit beside her cousin, her hand scratching the side of her head, "So now you've seen Roxas from another perspective, and you're feeling doubtful."

"Yes, that's exactly it." The blonde sighed and rolled over on her back. "I don't know who to believe - Roxas seems like such a great guy, but then Riku has to come along and say all these things about him, and now I'm not so sure. What if this is all some kind of setup?"

"I don't think you should let Riku's words affect your judgement of him," Kairi replied, "He's only seen him in a bad light; the only _real_ interaction they had with each other was when they fought. If there's one person you should trust in all of this, it's Sora. He's known Roxas for much longer - heck, they were _born_ on the same day! They're twins for Pete's sake!"

"That makes a lot of sense," Naminé agreed, "But I...I dunno. I just don't know what or how to feel right now."

"Maybe Friday will clear things up. Ask him a thing or two; maybe if you mention how you hung out with Riku today it'll make him jealous enough to cave in."

_"Kairi!"_ The blonde immediately sat up to gape at her cousin, "That's too mean!"

The redhead shrugged. "Well, you've gotta come up with a plan if you want to get something out of him. Roxas doesn't open up very easily - especially when it comes to things like this."

"You're right - I had to play a ridiculous question game to know more about him." Naminé groaned and buried her face in her hands. "Oh, Kairi - what am I going do with myself?"

Kairi threw her arms around her favourite cousin and nestled her head against hers. "Friday will answer most, if not all of your questions, I'm sure of it. Just be patient for a little longer, okay?"

The blonde sighed and pressed her head against Kairi's shoulder. "I'll try."

--

_A/N: Lots of musical inspiration for this chapter!_

_The upbeat song playing in Naminé's room was _HeroHeroine _by Boys Like Girls._

_A few songs Naminé was playing while doing her homework were _Strange and Beautiful _by Aqualung_ _and the acoustic version of _Jasey Rae _by All Time Low._

_A couple of the songs I imagined playing in Common Ground were _Beautiful _and _Sunrise Comes Too Soon _by Late Night Alumni._

_There was one song that helped write a great majority of this chapter, and that's _Breathe In _by Frou Frou._


	10. You've Got To Be Kidding Me

_A/N: Oh gosh...this chapter ended up being way longer than I expected it to be._

_Whaaaat? There's another _The World Ends With You _reference in here somewhere?_

--

**You've Got To Be Kidding Me.**

Naminé plucked her phone out of her bag for the seventeenth time that morning, much to Kairi's chagrin.

"Ugh, how is it only quarter to nine?" The blonde groaned as she threw her head back against the leather seat, "It's all going by so slowly…"

"Nami, I know you're excited 'cause it's Friday, but looking at your phone every five seconds isn't gonna make time go faster." Kairi rolled her eyes, though she could not help but grin at the same time. Naminé was bouncing impatiently in her seat, and her eyes darted everywhere from the window, to the flat screen TV, then to Kairi, who was giggling quietly. When Takai dropped them off at the student centre the Katsura brothers were there to greet the girls as usual.

"You're looking a little excitable today." Roxas chuckled as he laced his fingers with Naminé's. She smiled and turned to face him, standing on her tiptoes; the tips of their noses were touching.

"Why wouldn't I be?" She murmured, and he chuckled again. They were interrupted by an awkward cough and they turned to face Sora and Kairi, who looked like they were trying to hold in their laughter.

"I think it's time you lovebirds went to class." Kairi shook her head in amusement. Sora's cheeks were tinged pink and he was rubbing the back of his head.

"Aw, does this mean I have to tag along as third wheel?"

The foursome laughed together, and then Kairi had to leave to go to homeroom. Sora hung behind the two blondes as they headed up the stairs to their classes, and he waved before separating from them to go to Geography.

"Why can't this day be over _now?"_ Naminé whined as she sat down. Beside her Roxas was shaking his head.

"Be patient, Naminé. It'll be over sooner than you think." He assured her just as the lecture started. She huffed in annoyance but knew that there was not anything else she could do, so she sat tight and waited out the rest of History. It actually was not as bad as she thought it was, since the last half of class was a work period and she decided to spend the majority of it bothering Roxas.

"Are you going to act like this the entire day?" He asked her half-irritably, half-playfully after she poked him for the fifth time, "Because if you are I'm seriously doubting my decision on taking you out tonight."

"Oh really? That's too bad," She giggled, "'Cause you're taking me out regardless of whether you want to or not. We had a deal, remember?"

"Did you even want me to take you out in the first place? You seemed shocked when I brought up the offer." He raised a sly eyebrow in her direction, and her cheeks reddened in embarrassment.

"Er," Naminé stammered as the bell rang; they both gathered their things and rose from their seats to leave class, "Well, I, uh...hmm." Her eyes dropped to her shoes and she cringed when she heard his bell-tone laughter.

"You don't have to answer it if you don't want to," He smirked as his hand slid down to hers, "Or if you simply just can't find a way to answer it." He leaned in and she stiffened as she felt his lips brush the skin behind her ear, "I was just looking for a way to make you stutter."

His words made her come back to her senses and she growled in protest, pushing him away by the forehead. His laughter echoed down the hallway as she walked swiftly down the stairs, but his long legs caught up with her in a few short strides and she found him loping beside her once more. He left her with Kairi in Math as usual, but like always he sat a seat or two behind her.

"One period down, two more to go," Kairi reminded her cheerily as Roxas began to whistle. The blonde was grumbling under her breath as she pulled her binder out of her bag. "I thought you were excited for this."

"Oh, believe me Kairi, I am," Naminé sighed in defeat; Roxas' whistling somehow got louder and her eye began to twitch, "But...ugh, he can be so annoying! The way he looks for ways to bother me...he's like a little kid sometimes, I swear!" She made sure she was loud enough so that he could hear her.

"Aw, that's cute," Kairi cooed as Naminé's eye began to twitch more frequently, "I can already picture how tonight's gonna be like-"

Her blonde cousin threw her a cutting glare. "Don't. Please."

When it was time for lunch Roxas pulled her straight out of the building, but instead of bringing her to the stadium bleachers like he always did he veered towards the parking lot.

"Uh, what's with the sudden change?" Naminé asked skeptically, "Is this a part of your big plan?"

"No, not really," She could hear the grin in his voice, "I just want you to meet a couple of my friends."

"W-what?" The thought of spending a lunch period with three members of a notorious street gang did not sound very appealing at the moment.

"You look as if I told you I was going to throw you into a pit of lions." Roxas laughed as they approached the parking lot; she could see his gunmetal BMW glinting underneath the sunlight, and there were two tall figures leaning against it.

"I don't see much of a difference." Naminé muttered as he continued to pull her closer. Once they were close enough she realized that the two people leaning against Roxas' car were Axel and Demyx.

"Took you long enough," Axel lifted himself off the car and shook his brilliant red head; in one hand he was flipping a Zippo lighter. When he eyed the blonde girl standing nervously beside his best friend he chuckled and playfully licked his lips. "And I see you've brought a snack."

Naminé's eyes widened and the taller boys snickered mischievously. Roxas narrowed his eyes and gestured towards the startled blonde. "Shut up, Axel. This is Naminé, by the way."

The redhead rolled his eyes; with a flick of his wrist the lighter in his hand snapped to a close. "I was joking, Roxas, geez. Chill out, would ya?" He threw Naminé an impish grin and held out a hand; his palm was wrapped in white linen bandages. "The name's Axel. Got it memorized?"

"Er, yes?" She shook it hesitantly; his fingers were rough to the touch.

"Cute," Axel commented as he stepped back, and she blushed in embarrassment. He reached into the pocket of his blazer and pulled out a pack of cigarettes. His sharp green eyes darted over to the bumbling boy beside him. "What the hell are you waiting for? Not introducing yourself is rude!"

The sandy-haired boy's eyes widened and he stood up straight, rubbing the back of his head. "Oh yeah," His hand shot straight out; unlike Axel's his was smooth and not covered in bandages, "I'm Demyx. Nice to meet you, Naminé."

"Hi," The blonde smiled shyly; she looked around the parking lot for the other two members of The XIII that attended Brighton, "Um, aren't there supposed to be two more of you?"

Axel chuckled and reached forward to rumple Roxas' hair; the shorter boy jumped back and glared at him in protest. "You've snagged yourself an observant one, haven't you?" He plucked the cigarette out of his mouth and balanced it in between two fingers. "Larxene ditched for the day, and since Zexion's the world's biggest nerd he's in the library studying his eyes off."

"Why did we even decide to come to school today?" Demyx asked as he placed his hands behind his head, "There's nothing important going on."

"Oh, so now Naminé's not important? Shame on you," Axel shook his head in disapproval and Naminé could not help but grin, "No wonder you don't have a girlfriend."

"Want to get something to eat?" Roxas suggested as he fished his keys out of his pocket; in the background Demyx was swearing in protest as Axel laughed at him.

The smallest blonde nodded and she felt Roxas' hand curl around hers once more. He opened the passenger door for her and she clambered inside.

"Ooh, where are we going?" Axel asked eagerly; he had Demyx in a headlock.

"Lemme go! Ah, Axel, you're pulling my hair out!" The sandy blond protested; he reached up to punch the redhead's arms but it was not enough, and Axel threw his head back to laugh some more.

"Hurry up and finish your smoke so we can go," Roxas ordered before crossing to the other side of the car, "We're going to get lunch."

"Since when have you prohibited smoking in the Beemer?" Axel asked before flicking his cigarette butt onto the pavement; behind him Demyx was rubbing his sore neck. The two seniors climbed into the back as Roxas started the engine. The redhead eyed the small blonde sitting in the passenger's seat and he snickered. "Ohh...now I get it."

Naminé flushed, but Axel's words did not seem to bother Roxas, who was grinning to himself as he inserted a CD into the stereo. The speakers were booming with fast punk music as the BMW sped out of the parking lot; Naminé's pale fingers clutched the edges of the leather seat.

"You didn't drive this fast last week." She hollered over the obnoxious music; Roxas signaled left and switched lanes so quickly she jerked and nearly hit her head against the window.

"That's because your ankle isn't sprained anymore." He smirked. Roxas seemed bent on trying to get into a car accident; her eyes widened at the speedometer, where the needle was twitching in between eighty and one hundred. They drove down a few streets for a few minutes, and then Roxas pulled into the parking lot of a small plaza. Naminé noticed that the houses surrounding the area looked a bit rundown, and Deyton was just looming overhead.

"I didn't realize we'd go so far," She remarked as Roxas took her hand, "But then again with the way you were driving we could've gone to the other side of the world and I wouldn't even know it."

"This is where we usually go for lunch." He explained as he rubbed the back of his head with his free hand. He gently pulled her over to the door of a small ramen shop.

"I have been craving ramen for the longest time," She heard Demyx say behind her, and she giggled. Roxas sighed and opened the glass door, revealing a small room with few tables and chairs, all decorated in a traditional Japanese motif. It was completely empty.

"Boys!" A middle-aged man with a deep, raspy voice appeared from the back room, rubbing his hands with a dingy towel, "S'been awhile. How are you?" He eyed the small blonde half-hiding behind Roxas and he raised a thick eyebrow. "Oh - who's the pretty lady?"

`Axel snickered as he moved to take a seat by the wall. "She's Roxas' gir-"

"Naminé," Roxas cut in through gritted teeth, "Her name is Naminé."

The blonde stepped to the side so the man could get a clear view of her. She half-bowed. "H-hello."

"Hm, polite _and_ pretty. You don't see a lot of your kind these days." He smirked and pulled out a chair for her. "I'm Ken. It's nice to meet you, Naminé."

She flushed as she sat down. Axel, who was sitting across from her, leaned forward and peered up at Ken; he was playing with his lighter again. "It's nice to get a break from Larxene, eh Ken?"

The older man chuckled. "Larxene's not that bad once you get used to her. Anyway, I'll go fetch your food - be right back."

"You've got a lot of nerve to come and hang out with us," Axel grinned as Ken disappeared into the back room; a slow, moody song began to play from the speakers nailed to the walls, "Aren't you scared we're gonna gang up on you or something?"

"Er," Naminé pulled on her hair; she could feel Roxas' eyes on her, "I didn't think you'd be _that_ bad - Roxas doesn't seem like the type to do such a thing, so I only assumed the same about you."

The redhead nodded appreciatively and leaned back against the wall, placing one hand behind his spiky head. He twisted the lighter around in his other hand, letting the lights from the ceiling bounce off of it. "Smart answer. Well, you're right and wrong - I personally think it's not right to treat women like that (Roxas snickered in the background and Axel shot him a nasty glare), and Demyx is the biggest wuss you'll ever set your eyes on so you've got nothing to worry about, though I can't say much about the others."

"Shaddup, Axel!" Demyx leaned in his chair to punch Axel in the arm, but leaned too far forward and crashed on the floor instead; Roxas groaned and buried his face in his hands as Axel and Naminé burst out in laughter. Ken came out of the back room soon afterward, wheeling a cart with four steaming bowls of ramen. Demyx scrambled back onto his chair and rubbed his hands gleefully. "Awesome - I'm _starving!"_

"Ken's ramen is the best in town," Roxas grinned as he pushed a bowl towards Naminé, "You won't want to eat anywhere else."

The blonde pushed her noodles further into the soup with her chopsticks; it smelled inviting, and she was a bit hungry. Demyx and Axel were practically inhaling their bowls, and Roxas was distractedly picking at his food. Naminé finally dug into her bowl, and she reveled in the rich taste of the soup.

"Wow, this is really good." She said, surprised. Ken barked out in bellowing laughter, holding his belly with his large hands.

"I've never disappointed before!" He chuckled, and Naminé gave him a timid smile. Lunch was surprisingly entertaining with Axel and Demyx; those two bickered like an old married couple, while Roxas often acted as a mediator.

"I like them," Naminé insisted as Roxas reached for her hand; they had just parted with the seniors and were now heading towards the Arts Wing for English, "I don't know why you act as if you don't want to be seen around them."

"They're like fire and ice," He shook his head, "They never get along."

"Hm, ice seems a little too cold for Demyx. I'd say he's more like water." The blonde tapped her chin with a finger, and Roxas chuckled. English whizzed by as usual since Sora and Hayner were there, and Gym was not so bad either because Roxas was her partner again. Finally the end of school had come; the moment the bell rang she nearly zipped out of the gym, but Roxas' steady grip on her hand kept her feet firmly planted to the floor.

"Whoa, slow down," He chuckled, "Just because school's over doesn't mean that I'm taking you out _now."_

"You didn't exactly give me specific details about today, so how am I supposed to know?" Naminé raised an eyebrow as they walked to her locker together.

"Hey guys," Kairi greeted them by her cousin's locker like she always did, "Where's Sora?"

"He went to get the car," Roxas replied casually as Naminé spun her lock, "He said he'll be out by the student centre in a few minutes."

"So what time are you picking Nami up?" The redhead asked nonchalantly; behind her locker door Naminé's eyes widened and her cheeks darkened.

"Around five."

"Perfect - we're gonna need a couple hours to prep up, anyway."

_"Kairi…" _The blonde growled as she closed her locker; Roxas and her redheaded cousin were innocently blinking back at her.

"C'mon, Sora might be at the student centre already." Roxas grabbed her hand and began to pull her towards the stairs. Kairi was bouncing behind them; Naminé made a mental note to smack her later. The black Maybach and red Jaguar were already humming in unison by the curb.

"I'll be there by five, okay?" Roxas leaned in to whisper in her ear; her skin tingled as his lips brushed across it, "See you."

"'Kay," Was the only thing she could say; Kairi dragged her over to the car.

"Alright, the moment we get home we're going straight to your closet." The redhead grabbed her cousin's shoulders and shook her lightly. "Hey, are you paying attention?"

Naminé blinked twice. "Y-yes, yes I am. We're going straight to my closet once we get home." She wriggled out of Kairi's grasp and shook her head. "I spent lunch with him, Axel and Demyx today." She suddenly blurted, and her cousin's eyes widened in surprise.

"Wow, really? What was _that_ like?"

"It wasn't as bad as I thought it was going to be," The blonde explained as she tugged on her hair, "They're really nice, and funny too."

"Hm, I would've thought otherwise. I guess you can't really judge a book by its cover." Kairi scratched the side of her head. The moment Takai stopped the car in front of the manor the redhead pulled her cousin out and dragged her up the stairs. She tugged Naminé into her closet and dropped to her knees, immediately beginning her search for the ultimate outfit. The girls searched Naminé's closet for a good hour and a half, trying to find something good to wear, but they did not come up with anything yet.

"So he hasn't given you any hint on where he's taking you," Kairi was tossing random articles of clothing over her head and Naminé had to duck, step and dodge to avoid getting hit, "Except for the fact that he's taking you downtown?"

"Nope," The blonde frowned and sank to her knees, "He wants to keep it a _surprise."_

"Aw," Kairi gushed, and Naminé rolled her eyes, "Well, to be safe you should go for something not too dressy but not too casual either. Hmm, let's see…ooh, this might do it." She turned around and held up a plain white sundress with straps and a patterned hem. "Simple, but it speaks in volumes."

The blonde shrugged. "I guess it'll do." She was never one for fashion anyway.

Her redheaded cousin rolled her eyes and tossed her the dress. "You gotta show a little more enthusiasm than that, Nami. This is your first date!" She rifled through the cubby holes and threw her a pair of powder blue sandals. "There, that should do it. Get dressed and lemme see how you look."

"Yes ma'am." Naminé left to change in the bathroom; the dress fit her well, and the sandals were a nice touch since they matched her eyes. Her hair, however, was a different story.

"You look great!" Kairi had entered the bathroom to see her cousin staring dismally into the mirror, "I don't see why you're being so sulky."

"Can't we do anything about this?" Naminé pointed to the curl of hair at the back of her head, and her cousin giggled as she leaned forward to tug on it. "Ow!"

"Nah, I think we should leave it," Kairi grinned, "It adds to your charm."

The blonde raised a pale eyebrow. "What charm? Don't you mean _lack_ of charm?"

"You have plenty of it," Her cousin replied as she tugged her out of the bathroom, "Now, do you think we should add some accessories? Makeup?"

"Er, no, I think we're good, thanks."

"You're right - you look better with less." Naminé's eyes widened, and Kairi burst into laughter. "Oops - that came out wrong, didn't it?"

"Ugh, I hate you." The blonde grumbled as she moved to sit on her bed. Kairi sat beside her and sighed, throwing her arms around her.

"So grown up," Kairi sighed again, her voice faraway, "I'm happy for you."

"Thanks, Mom."

"He should be coming soon, right?" The redhead glanced at the digital clock on the nightstand, "I think I'm more excited for this than you are."

"He better be cooperative tonight," Naminé shook her head, "I still have all these things I want to know."

"Oh, he has to," Kairi agreed, "One of the main components of a good relationship is honesty."

"We're not going out yet!"

"In approximately twenty or so minutes you will be, and you guys already act as if you've been together for years."

Naminé groaned and buried her face in her hands. Kairi plowed on, gushing about how cute they were and how she wanted to have at least one kid named after her. Before the blonde knew it her phone began to vibrate, and she nearly toppled off her bed.

"What the heck are you doing? Answer it, fool!" Kairi tossed the small white phone towards her cousin, who barely caught it. She flipped it open and brought it up to her ear.

"Erm, hello?"

"Hey," Roxas' deep croon answered her softly; her cheeks were already beginning to warm up, "Are you ready? I'm outside."

"Y-yeah, I'm coming." She closed her phone and immediately began to tug on her hair. "He's here."

"Right on time!" Kairi lightly pushed her blonde cousin out of her room and down the staircase. She stopped right in front of the double doors. "Remember, act calm and try not to trip over anything. Be yourself!"

"If you want me to be myself I might as well start falling on my face now." Naminé groaned as she reached for the door handles, "I'll see you later." The cool breeze felt refreshing on her warm face as she made her way towards the purring BMW by the curb. Roxas was leaning against the passenger door with his arms crossed; he was wearing a black blazer, black and white sneakers, navy blue jeans, white dress shirt that was unbuttoned and a black t-shirt underneath. He was smirking, as usual.

"You never fail to impress, do you?" He stepped towards her and entwined their fingers; she could tell he put on some more cologne.

"It's nothing," She mumbled, her eyes staring at his collar, "Kairi actually picked it out for me; I'm not really keen on this sort of thing."

Roxas leaned in even closer and their foreheads touched; Naminé gulped as she felt the temperature in her face rising. "You could've been dressed in a potato sack and I would've still thought you were stunning."

The blonde giggled. "Right. Maybe I should keep that in mind for next time."

"Next time? I like your optimism." She flushed as he backed away to open the door for her. She politely stepped inside and buckled her seatbelt. Seconds later he appeared beside her, shifting the gears to drive. He turned on the stereo and soft, mellow rock music began to play.

"This is quite a change from lunchtime." She commented as Roxas slowly drove out of the roundabout.

"I figured the music I was playing earlier wouldn't set the right mood." He replied casually, and she blushed.

"So...are you going to tell me where we're going now?"

He chuckled. "What if I just gave you a hint? Would that suffice?"

Naminé rolled her eyes. "Well, if that's all I'm going to get out of you…"

"We're going to dinner first." He grinned; the blonde exhaled sharply.

"Very specific." She muttered. The drive was silent, but it was not an uncomfortable silence; for some reason she felt that if any of them said something it would ruin the moment. The sun was beginning to set over the city and it painted the sky in an array of pinks, purples, oranges and reds. When they arrived in Deyton Naminé noticed that Roxas turned in towards the boardwalk; the paved roads were turning into cobblestone, and the buildings began to shrink and lighten in colour.

"We're eating here?" She asked as he parked at the same plaza Olette parked at on Saturday. He circled the car and helped her out.

"Not exactly." He led her over to the trunk and popped it open; inside was a wicker picnic basket. Naminé's eyes felt like they were going to pop out of their sockets.

"You've _got_ to be kidding me," She snorted; he grinned as his hand slipped down to hers, "Where on earth are we going to have a picnic in the city?"

"I'll show you." He replied kindly as he gently pulled her towards the boardwalk. The thick wooden planks clopped underneath their feet as they walked hand in hand; the orange rays of the sunset sparkled across the ocean and the breeze was a little chilly, but it was not very strong. After walking for a good fifteen minutes the boardwalk opened up to a small beach with warm, spotless sand.

"I didn't think there'd be an actual clean beach around here." Naminé commented as Roxas reached into the basket; he pulled out a large white blanket and unfolded it between them. She helped him flatten it onto the sand, and when it was flat enough they both sat down. The soft swishing noise of the waves crashing against the shore was soothing, and the sun dipping into the ocean made a nice backdrop.

"This city was my backyard," He smirked; he reached into the basket again and pulled out some tupperware bowls, "I know it inside and out." He pried the lids off the tupperware and revealed its contents: sushi.

"A picnic on the beach...I would've never expected you to be such a cheesy romantic," She smiled shyly as he handed her a pair of chopsticks; she picked up a salmon roll, dipped it into some soy sauce and popped it into her mouth. "Mm, this is really good. Did you make it yourself?"

He raised an eyebrow as he mixed a small wad of wasabi into his portion of soy sauce. "What kind of person do you think I am, then? And yes, I did make this myself - well, Sora kind of helped. He made the California rolls."

"Hm," Naminé's head tilted to the side as she wracked her brains for a reply, "Well, do you want me to be completely honest with you?" When he nodded, she continued. "When I saw you walk into class on the first day of school I thought you were some crazy rebel who had no respect for authority. You looked so...I dunno..._angry."_

Beside her, Roxas chuckled. "Interesting description." He remarked as he reached for a tupperware full of spicy tuna rolls.

"Would you say that's accurate?" She asked warily, peering at him from the corner of her eye.

He was frowning. "Somewhat, I guess," He turned towards the basket and pulled out two cans of pop. "But at the same time I don't think I'm as angry as I used to be."

Intrigued, Naminé leaned closer towards him without even realizing it. "What makes you say that?"

"The things that happened to me in the past don't exactly fit well with each other," He explained as he ruffled his hair, "It's kind of like trying to finish a puzzle, only to realize you've been given the wrong pieces."

His vagueness only further aroused her curiosity but she had a faint idea of what he was talking about, thanks to Riku. She made sure not to mention that, though. "But you said that you're not as angry as you used to be. Does that mean that you've finally found a piece that fits?"

He looked up to face her; the orange flickers of the sunset caught in his eyes and she awed at their beauty. She noticed for the first time that his eyelashes were quite long, and that his eyes were actually more than just one shade of blue. His mouth was curved in that usual impish grin of his, but there was an element of coyness to it too.

"I think so," His eyes never left her face, and she flushed; luckily the setting sun hid the worst of it, "But you didn't really answer my question - you only told me what you thought of me _before, _and not right now."

There he goes again with his words. "Oh-" The heat stirring in her face worsened, "-er, well-"

"And the stammering begins," He shook his head in amusement as her gaze dropped to her lap; he picked up his chopsticks and resumed eating, "Keep eating, Naminé. We still have other things to do."

Her curiosity burned brighter at the mention of that, and she hastily returned to her sushi. When they were both finished they cleaned up and briefly returned to the car to drop off the basket. Roxas then proceeded with his plan, whatever it was; he took her deeper into the city to show her what it looked like at night. Everything was lit up in bright lights, especially at the square. Every once in awhile he would point out things that related to him, such as places he often visited after school or where he met Axel, Demyx and the other gang members for the first time.

"Axel can be a real pain, but once you learn to tolerate him he's a great friend," Roxas explained as he and Naminé turned a corner; they were veering into the theatre district, "He's there for you when you need him, and he keeps his promises."

"He was your first friend when you came here?" The air had gotten chillier since it was later in the evening now, and Roxas had given her his blazer like he always did. Naminé hugged herself underneath his jacket as they continued walking; they passed by various theatres with flashing marquees and posters.

He helped her put on the jacket and chuckled when she had to push the sleeves back over her hands. "Yes, he was. He's my closest friend, if you don't count Sora."

"You seem pretty close with your brother too."

"He's my better half," He rubbed the back of his spiky head, "I bet if I never moved in with my dad I would've ended up like him, somewhat. Maybe not as naïve, but you get my point."

Naminé giggled. "He's not as naïve as you and Kairi say he is, you know. Give him a break." She hesitantly sidestepped towards him; the sides of their arms were pressed against each other and she flushed. "Why did you join The XIII in the first place?" She asked quietly, her eyes lowering down to their joined hands.

He fell silent; the look on his face was expressionless, and she suddenly felt guilty for asking. She was about to take back what she said but then he spoke up. "We're here."

Relieved that he changed the subject, she looked upwards to see what he was addressing; they were standing in front of a theatre that did not look very different from the other ones on the strip.

"Er, are we watching something?" She asked as she followed him inside; she noticed that the hallways were empty. He briefly looked over his shoulder to smirk at her.

"I won't, but you will." He stopped in front of a pair of doors, and she stared at them questionably. He dropped her hand to push them open, revealing a large, unoccupied theatre shaped in a semi-circle; at the end was a stage with bright spotlights poring over it, and in the middle was a black grand piano.

"Are we allowed in here?" Naminé was skeptical as he tugged her towards the stage.

"My mother used to take Sora and I here all the time to watch classical performances, so we developed a friendship with the owner of the theatre." Roxas chuckled, "Being so young at the time we'd just fall asleep or pretend like we enjoyed it, but now I look at it differently."

"The world changes as you grow older." She said in a strange, faraway voice.

When they approached the stage he moved to sit by the piano; he scooted down the bench a little and patted the spot beside him. She sat down and awed at the shiny keys. He flexed his fingers for a few seconds before setting them down, positioning them over the keys and pausing for a minute. He then began to play the same song he was playing in the studio that day they had the dinner party, the same song she heard in Olette's car on the drive home. His hands moved skillfully over the keys, and she was almost caught in a trance just watching them. He further surprised her when he began to sing softly to the music; his voice was smooth, soothing and right on key. It was perfect.

"Is there anything you _can't_ do?" Naminé gaped once he finished the song; Roxas turned to her and smiled ruefully.

"Many things," He replied enigmatically. He reached for her hands and placed them over the keys. "Curve your fingers like you're holding an apple."

She raised an eyebrow, but decided to play along. She realized with surprise that she was actually more musically adept than she thought she was; Roxas managed to teach her the beginning of the song he was playing earlier in mere minutes. She laughed alongside him as he gave her his little piano lesson, blushing whenever she made a mistake and cheering when she actually played the right notes. The high acoustics of the room resonated the music they made together, surrounding them and canceling everything else out; it was almost like they were in their own little world.

"I really enjoyed today," Naminé said honestly; it was just past midnight and they were back on the boardwalk, making their way towards Roxas' car. The sky was a dark, endless navy, and the ocean looked like black glass as the moon reflected off its rippling surface. "The sushi picnic on the beach was cute, and the mini concert was a nice surprise."

He smiled and released her hand to fully wrap his arm around her waist, pulling her closer to his side; she flushed furiously, but at least she was warmer now. "Would you like to go out again next week?"

"Do I even have to answer that?" She glanced upwards to smirk at him, and he chuckled in response. They walked further down the boardwalk, chatting lightly amongst themselves. Naminé felt very comfortable against him and she unconsciously slid her arm around his waist, resting her head against his shoulder.

"Hey, chickenwuss." An unfamiliar voice sneered from behind; she felt Roxas stiffen beside her. Raising an eyebrow she turned to look, but she felt Roxas' arm tighten around her, preventing her from doing so. He slowly turned around and half-hid her behind him.

"Seifer, this isn't the time." His voice was hard and grating; she had never heard him sound like that before.

The person he was addressing snickered; two more people behind the stranger somewhere snickered in accompaniment. "Oh, don't worry - I can _plainly_ see that," The person stepped forward and Naminé was able to see him properly; he was wearing a black toque and a grey hoodie. He glanced over Roxas' shoulder, forcing his stare to clash with hers and she immediately ducked away. "But I guess you were too distracted to realize where you're standing."

"Does it even matter now?" Roxas rolled his eyes, "It's just me, and I'm not with any of my-"

"You're on _my_ turf, Blondie," Seifer hissed, "And you know what happens to losers like you when you step on my turf."

Naminé did not know why he called Roxas 'Blondie' when he was actually a blond himself. Roxas cursed under his breath and turned around briefly to face her; the sternness she read in his eyes worried her as he gently grabbed her by the upper arms. "When I tell you, go to the car," He instructed firmly, "And wait for Axel."

"Axel?" She whispered, confused, "But what about you?"

"Roxas!" Seifer growled, and the shorter blond cursed again.

"I'll be alright. Just do what I say," Roxas removed his blazer and swept it around her shoulders; he began to roll his sleeves up to his elbows, "Please."

She frowned and the worry prickling inside her worsened, but she nodded. Roxas leaned forward to briefly kiss her forehead, and then turned around again; she cringed when she heard him crack his knuckles. "I really don't want to do this, Seifer."

"You should've thought about that_ before_ you decided to trespass, XIII," Seifer simpered, "This is very irresponsible of you - think of what can happen to your cute lady friend over there!" Behind him the two people that laughed earlier laughed again, but she could not see them because it was too dark.

"Don't bring her into this," Roxas' voice hardened even more; out of the corner of his mouth she heard him utter, "Go now, Naminé - but slowly, and make sure to make as less noise as possible. When you're far enough, run to the car. I'm going to call Axel to bring you home."

"Roxas…" She whimpered, but he shook his head fiercely. Her eyes began to sting as she began to back away, remembering to be as silent as possible. Since it was dark and there were little lights out it was easy to sneak away, but it was the last thing she wanted to do at the moment. Her sandals made it a little difficult to run, but she pressed forward; the hot tears began to stream down her cheeks and they blurred her vision, so she swiped at her eyes with the back of her hands.

A thick, muscled arm suddenly found its way around her head and yanked her backwards; she yelped and grabbed it, trying to dig into the flesh with her nails.

"Heh, she thinks she can get away, y'know!" The voice the arm belonged to did not sound very smart. Naminé's cries were stifled behind the tight bands of muscle; its binding strength was no match for her.

A thick whacking noise was heard and it sent the person who was grappling Naminé's head tumbling backwards onto the boardwalk. The blonde shook her head, trying to get the blood flowing back, and spun around to see her who savior was, half-expecting it to be Roxas.

"Rai really needs to pay attention to his surroundings," Axel was gingerly massaging his bandaged hand; the guy called Rai was on the floor, unconscious. The redhead turned to face Naminé; he grabbed her by the wrist and yanked her further down the boardwalk, "Time to get outta here."

The blonde glanced over her shoulder but Roxas was nowhere to be found. "We can't just leave him!" Her eyes were brimming with tears again, and she sniffled loudly.

Axel shook his head but he did not look back. "If he can throw a punch and call me at the same time he's more than capable of defending himself. He's lucky I just happened to be loitering close by." He took a sharp turn and entered a narrow, dark alleyway; when they were deep enough inside he stopped running and dropped her wrist. Naminé slumped against the wall and rubbed at her eyes, trying to get the tears to stop flowing, but it was no use.

"He's outnumbered," Her voice was cracking under the weight of her tears, "He can't take on three people on his own."

"Ah, Roxas can take 'em no problem," She could hear the grin in Axel's voice, "Plus, Seifer's a piece of cake - that pansy's all bark and no bite." He fished his phone out of his pocket and dialed quickly. "Yo, III. Yep, boardwalk; Seifer, Rai and Fuu - the usual. You and who? Ohh, okay. Yeah, just to be safe. Mmhmm. Alright, call me if you need me. Later." Naminé felt his rough, bandaged hand on her wrist again and he resumed pulling her forward. "C'mon."

"Would you mind explaining what's going on?" The blonde asked impatiently; they exited the alleyway and ended up in the parking lot of the plaza, where Roxas' car was. Beside it was Axel's truck.

"I called up a few of my buddies because you seemed so worried about Roxas." Axel answered casually as he unlocked his door; when he clambered inside he leaned across to unlock the passenger door and Naminé climbed in. It smelled like cigarettes but it was not that important at the moment; she clutched the hem of her dress and clamped her eyes shut, knowing that there were more tears to come. The redhead frowned and ran his fingers through his hair. "Trust me, he's fine. He's been in worse."

"I don't care if he's been in worse," She opened her eyes to glare at him, "I want him to be okay _right now._ I want to see him, I want-"

"You rich kids always want something," Axel rolled his eyes as the engine roared to life, "Well, sister, I'm sorry to break it to ya but you can't always have what you want! If you don't wanna believe me then that's fine, but I'm trying to tell you the truth here."

Naminé sighed and flopped backwards against the cracked leather seat; her eyes were sore from crying. "Sorry, I'm just frustrated...and worried. Out of all the days this had to happen, it had to be _today,_ you know what I mean?" Her voice was hoarse, and it almost hurt to talk. "I really do know how to pick them."

"You most definitely do," Axel smirked, "Roxas is a great guy. He'll raise heaven and hell to make you happy, I swear. I was wondering why he decided to attend class every day all of a sudden, and then when I met you today the pieces finally fell into place. I haven't seen him this happy in awhile - I'm pretty sure it's all because of you."

The blonde flushed and her grip on her dress tightened. "A-are...are you sure he'll be okay?"

"Trust, he will be." The redhead replied kindly as he switched lanes, "Give him a call in the morning or something, though - he'll probably want to know if you made it home alright."

"I thought he trusted you."

"Not with his girl, no." Axel snickered, and Naminé blushed again. It hurt too much to talk, so the blonde stayed silent for the rest of the ride. Axel got the hint, assuming that she had a lot to think about, and fell silent as well. It was a little awkward, but the redhead was smart enough to know when to talk to a girl and when he should not, so he turned on the radio to fill in the silence. He dropped her off by the gates to the manor instead of driving through.

"Like they'd let me in with this piece of crap," Axel stretched his arm out of the open window and patted the door of his beaten up truck; he grinned and gave her a playful wink, "You be good now."

"Please...can you go back to him? If anything happens…" Naminé's eyes fell to her shoes, and he nodded.

"I will, don't worry. 'Night, Naminé - oh, and you should probably give his bro a call. He's most likely not going to be coming home tonight." Axel waved once and sped down the street, disappearing around the corner. She sighed and pulled on her curl of hair as she made her way towards the manor; she was surprised when the guard let her through without asking any questions. When she pushed the large wooden double doors open the first thing she saw was a flash of red; in mere moments Kairi was in her arms.

"You're back so late!" Her cousin exclaimed, "It's almost quarter to two in the morning! Where the hell have you been?!"

Images of the last moments of the evening flooded back into Naminé's memory and the tears returned; Kairi's eyes widened and she gently took her hands in hers. She wordlessly pulled her blonde cousin up the stairs and into her room, careful not to trip over any piles of clothing. Naminé curled up into fetal position on the bed, and Kairi leaned over her and stroked her hair affectionately.

"What happened?" She asked softly, "Start from the very beginning."

Naminé sniffled and explained how great everything was in the beginning, and how Seifer came out of nowhere. She told Kairi about how Rai caught her in some kind of headlock and how Axel saved her, and how he drove her home.

"Seifer? I've heard of him before," Kairi frowned, "I think he's the leader of another gang or something." She captured her cousin in a comforting hug; Naminé sobbed into her shoulder as Kairi rubbed her lower back. "If Axel says he'll be okay, then you should trust him."

"W-we have...to call Sora," The blonde leaned backwards to look at her cousin properly, "Tell him...h-he's not coming home tonight."

"I'll do it," Kairi assured her, "He'll probably want to know what's going on too. C'mon, you need to get to bed." She helped her into her room. "Promise me you'll sleep?"

Naminé sniffled and nodded. "I'll try my best. T-thanks." When Kairi closed the door behind her she stumbled into the bathroom and prepared for bed; she splashed cold water on her face to get rid of the tears. As she undressed she realized that she was still wearing his blazer, and she clutched it to her chest for a few long seconds, breathing in his scent. Her chest was still aching as she crawled into the soft white sheets, and she could feel the tears threatening to return as she rested her head against the down pillow. She knew she had to get some sleep but her mind was racing with thoughts of him.

Was this how Olette felt? Did she ever have to go through this before? The small blonde curled up underneath the blanket, hugging her legs to her chest and burying her face into her knees. She choked on a sob and clamped her eyes shut as a fresh stream of tears made their way down her ashen cheeks, dripping onto the mattress. Nothing had ever hurt her this much before; was it worth it to endure it on a weekly - no, daily basis?

But he was different. Yes, he made her feel different - singled out, but not in the bad way. He made her feel special, like she was the only one. This was bad; barely two weeks had passed and her heart was aching for him. She wished he would call somehow just so she could hear his voice telling her that he was okay, and that he wanted to see her in the morning. She wanted to see his impish smirk, his alluring blue stare and his tousled blond spikes. She wanted to feel his hands on her back and hear his heartbeat thud serenely against his chest.

She wanted to smell cologne and sea-salt ice cream.

--

_A/N: Some of the songs playing in Roxas' car were _Press Corpse _by Anti-Flag _andHey, It's Your Funeral Mama _by Alexisonfire._

_The moody song playing in the ramen shop was _Latin Simone _(the English version) by Gorillaz. _

_A couple of the softer songs Roxas plays later are _So Contagious _by Acceptance and _For Me This Is Heaven _by Jimmy Eat World._

_For some reason when I pictured the scene on the beach I imagined Joshua Radin's _Only You _playing in the background._

_I absolutely adore writing Axel - I want to try and include him more!_


	11. Missing You

_A/N: Title is taken from Naminé's theme song, _Missing You ~ Naminé, _which was arranged_ _by the amazingly talented Yoko Shimomura._

_-- _

**Missing You.**

As predicted Naminé did not get any sleep; when the first rays of sunlight poked through the curtains of her wide window she groaned and shielded her sore eyes with the back of her hand. She ignored the painful protests her joints were giving her and sat up straight, noticing that the sheets were twisted around her thin body from tossing and turning all night. After untangling herself from the sheets she trudged into the bathroom and took a long, hot shower; the burning water pelting her skin soothed her throbbing muscles. She changed into a loose white t-shirt and baggy grey sweatpants and immediately dropped back into bed, groaning for the second time. She eyed the cordless phone sitting in its dock by her nightstand and briefly contemplated on calling Roxas, but for some reason she felt like it was too soon to do so.

"Nami?" Kairi was knocking softly on her door, "Are you awake?"

"Mmm…" The blonde moaned into her pillow, but she made sure it was loud enough for her cousin to hear. Kairi walked in soon afterward, barefoot and dressed in an oversized hoodie and shorts.

"You didn't sleep." She said bluntly as she crawled onto the bed; she gently patted her cousin's head. "It's understandable, though."

Naminé rolled over; the sunlight streaking through the window burned her already aching eyes and she shut them tight. "Did you call Sora?" Her voice was hoarse from crying all night.

"Yeah," The redhead sighed, "He's worried like crazy - he wants to know what happened. He's coming over in an hour or so."

"I really hope he's okay." Naminé bent over the edge of her bed to pick up her phone; she did not miss any calls. Kairi took the blonde's hands in her own and helped her off the bed.

"You need some breakfast," She suggested, "It'll give you some energy, at least. C'mon." She dragged her all the way down to the kitchen and fixed her a bowl of cereal. Naminé ate slowly and reluctantly, not really feeling hungry but she knew Kairi had a point - without energy she would probably pass out by the time Sora arrived. She swigged her milk and let Kairi pull her all the way upstairs back to her room. Her cousin tried motivating her into doing something productive like homework or painting, but all she wanted to do was see Roxas.

"Wait for Sora," The redhead reassured her after Naminé pestered her about it for the fifth time, "I'm pretty sure he wants to talk to him too." She rubbed her cousin's shoulder. "Try and squeeze in some sleep before he comes, okay?"

Naminé sighed into Kairi's pillow and closed her eyes; the heaviness of sleep attacked her with twice more ferocity than usual, and she was out in seconds. She seldom dreamed for some reason, but she liked it that way; it made her nights less troublesome.

"Nami," Kairi gently shook her awake; the blonde sat up slowly and rubbed her eyes, which were starting to hurt a little less now, "Sora's here. Is it okay if we head to Common Ground?"

She nodded, still half-asleep. "Yeah...lemme go get dressed first."

"Okay, I'll meet you downstairs." Naminé stumbled back into her room and languidly changed into a pair of jeans and a plain white t-shirt. She eyed the black blazer hanging over her chair and the aching in her chest returned, but she reached out towards it anyway and folded it over her arm. She stepped into a pair of flip-flops and made her way down the stairs where Kairi was waiting, dressed in a denim skirt, sneakers and a pale pink hooded sweater. The red Jaguar was waiting patiently for them outside.

"Hey guys," Sora greeted half-heartedly.

"You didn't sleep either?" Naminé asked, eyeing him carefully; he looked just as tired as she was. She handed him the blazer. "He gave this to me before it happened - I thought you'd see him before me, so you can give it back to him."

The brunet shook his head as Kairi closed her door. "How could I? I was up all night wondering where the heck my brother was." He stared at the jacket questionably. "I think you should hold onto it for now."

The redhead frowned and scratched her head. "Maybe I should've just waited until morning to tell you."

"No, no - it's better you told me last night. I would've been freaking out more if you told me right now." He shifted gears and drove out of the Hinomoto manor. "So, Naminé, do you mind explaining what went on last night?"

"This Seifer guy just came out of nowhere and started talking to him," The bllonde tugged at her curl of hair, "Then Roxas told me to go back to the car. This guy named Rai kinda grabbed me, but Axel came and helped me out, and then he drove me home." The dull aching in her chest began to grow, and she swallowed loudly. "I haven't seen or heard from Roxas ever since." Her hand absently moved upwards to touch her forehead, where he kissed her, and she sighed.

"I called him after Kairi called me last night but he didn't pick up. I tried again this morning," Sora scratched his head, "But I still ended up with nothing." He pulled into the parking lot and the threesome made their way inside Common Ground; they sat in the usual booth, but without Riku it felt somewhat incomplete.

"Seifer," Sora shook his head; Kairi left to order their drinks, "Roxas and him had been going at it since middle school. He's a real nasty guy - doesn't play fair."

"I can tell," Naminé frowned, "He was with two other people, and Roxas had to face them on his own."

"Seifer's no good by himself 'cause the only weapon he really has is words," The brunet explained, "He's got a gang of his own somewhere in the city, and they're way bigger than The XIII. I think they've got almost thirty members or something."

"Are they worse?"

Sora shrugged as Kairi returned with a tray of their drinks, "I hear about them more than any other gang, but The XIII prefer to keep things underground so maybe they're the worse ones...I wouldn't know."

"The more I try to find out about your brother the more questions I have to ask him," Naminé grumbled as she sipped her smoothie, "And the worst part about all of this is that he either speaks in metaphors or he's never around to actually _talk_ about it."

"I'm guessing you didn't get much out of him yesterday?" Kairi raised an eyebrow.

Her blonde cousin shook her head. "Not really - nothing that I've never heard before, or at least that's what I interpreted from what he was telling me. Ugh, he is _so_ confusing," She tugged on her hair in frustration, "I need him to be here so I can yell at him." The corners of her eyes were beginning to sting again and a painful lump formed in her throat, but she ignored it. She pulled her phone out of her pocket and glared at it through tear-glazed eyes, "That _idiot…"_

"I doubt he's going to pick up if you tried now," Sora said sadly, "I think we should just wait until he calls us instead."

"Sora's right," Kairi agreed, "I know it's a pain but you're gonna have to wait some more, Nami. He knows better than to leave you hanging like that."

"How are you so sure?" The blonde countered, "He _thrives _in making me wait: he makes me wait a week so I can ask him if he's stopped smoking, he makes me wait an entire weekend and half of a day so I can find out who that Xion girl is, he makes me wait until Friday so he can take me out, and now he's making me wait for God-knows-how-long so I can find out if he's alright or not." She gripped her phone so hard she swore she thought she was going to crush it. "I'm getting _tired_ of this, you guys. He's tried my patience way too many times in just two weeks…" Her voice faltered and her eyes dropped to her lap, "But for some reason I can't stop thinking about him."

"Oh, Nami," Kairi leaned over the table to take her cousin's hands in hers, "I wish there was some way we could help you. We're worried too, you know."

"Roxas isn't dumb; I'm pretty sure he's okay, but it would help if he gave us some kind of sign," Sora sighed and scratched his head, "But that's just the way he is. He doesn't like being an inconvenience for others."

"Well, he's being a _big_ inconvenience right now by not letting us know where he is and if he's okay." Naminé growled, her eyes narrowing at her phone again. The three finished their drinks in a tired silence; Naminé was on the verge of falling asleep and Kairi had to give Sora some of her coffee so he would be awake enough to drive home.

"I'll see you guys later." He waved before yawning for the billionth time. He reached out of the window and handed Naminé his brother's jacket. "Oh, you forgot about this."

The blonde held the jacket to her chest; it still faintly smelled like cologne. "T-thanks. I'll be sure to give it back to him."

"Bye, and don't you even _think_ of driving into Deyton to look for your brother," Kairi scolded, "I'll know if you do!"

Sora looked a little uneasy, but he laughed it off and sped out of the roundabout. Naminé rubbed her tired eyes with her knuckles and leaned against her cousin.

"I'm glad I don't drive," She mumbled sleepily, "'Cause if I did I'd probably head to Deyton before him."

"I'll chain you to your bed if I have to," Kairi grinned as she helped her cousin inside, "But seriously, Nami - let him get to you first."

"He already has," The blonde muttered under her breath when they reached her room. She pressed the back of her hand against her mouth to stifle her yawn. "I'm gonna take a nap; I think I can sleep now."

"Alright. Sleep well," Kairi waved, "I'll be in my room if anything." She closed the door and Naminé leaned against it, sighing and closing her eyes. She unconsciously wrapped Roxas' blazer around her shoulders and hugged herself underneath it as she sank to the floor, her eyes stinging and the aching in her chest returning. Groaning, she made her way to the bathroom to change back into the loose t-shirt and sweats, but she was still carrying his blazer when she made her way back to her bed. She pushed her thin arms through the sleeves and pulled the lapels over herself as she settled into the soft mattress, smiling grimly when she remembered that her arms were too short for the sleeves. His cologne enveloped her senses and she sighed as her eyes fluttered to a close.

When she woke up a couple of hours later the sheets were weaving in and out of her limbs, just like this morning, and her hair was messier than usual. Her throat felt dry and her eyes burned; she had been crying in her sleep. Her room was filled with a soft, orange glow; the sun was beginning to set. Naminé slowly crawled out of bed, her fingers still running over the lapels of his blazer, and stepped towards the window. She parted the lacy curtains and awed at the sky; it was smeared in different shades of pink, purple, orange and red, and the sun was a large yellow semi-circle sinking into the horizon. The sight painfully reminded her of their sushi picnic on the beach, and she immediately turned away as soon as the tears began to fall. She grabbed her phone on the way to her little studio, frowning when she still did not get any missed calls.

She did not even know why she was in the studio; she did not feel like creating anything. She watched herself as she moved automatically around the room, gathering the supplies she needed for whatever it was she was going to do. Her eyes wandered around the blank canvas in front of her, wondering what her imagination was going to replicate this time. She raised an eyebrow as she mixed black paint onto her palette; was she really _that_ depressed? She rolled the sleeves of his blazer up to her elbows and watched as she began to work.

Her hand seemed to be moving on its own as it swished across the canvas, smothering it with black paint. She mixed in some white as well to give it some contrast; her eyes grew more and more confused as the piece began to actually look like something. When it was finished she stepped back to examine it; a single spotlight was staring down on a black grand piano, where two figures sat behind it, smiling and laughing with each other.

Shaking her head, Naminé dragged herself out of her room and into the bathroom to wash her hands, brushes and palette. After putting her art supplies back where they belonged she sat on the edge of her bed for a very long time, staring at her phone. Her thumb twitched over his name on her contact list, and the corner of her mouth quivered slightly. She pressed the call button and reluctantly held it up to her ear, her heart pounding in her chest as it rang. She cancelled the call after seven rings. Feeling even more alone than before, she exhaled shakily and hugged herself again, feeling the hot tears course down her cheeks.

Soon afterward a maid knocked on her door, informing that dinner was to be served in fifteen minutes. Naminé felt nothing close to hungry, but she trudged over to her closet and dressed anyway. When she left her room Kairi had just opened her door to leave hers.

"Feeling any better?" The redhead asked softly; when Naminé shook her head her cousin frowned and slipped an arm around her shoulders. "Aw, Nami…"

"I tried calling him," The blonde's eyes were glued to the floor as they made their way down the hallway, "But he didn't pick up."

"I told you to just wait until he calls," Kairi scolded her as they stepped down the marble staircase, "He'll get around eventually; he can't just suddenly forget you like that."

"I know…" Her blonde cousin sighed and tugged on her hair, "But it doesn't hurt to try, does it?"

During dinner Naminé picked absently at her food; she felt Kairi's concerned eyes on her the entire time so she made sure to actually take a bite every once in awhile to make it look like she was hungry. After dinner she holed herself up in her room; Kairi offered to keep her company but she refused, insisting that she was just tired and she wanted to sleep the rest of the evening away.

The next day was not very different; she woke up feeling disoriented and sore like yesterday, and Kairi was trying to be nice and supporting but Naminé shunned her company, preferring to be alone.

"Well, sulking in your room isn't gonna help anybody," Her redheaded cousin pointed out, "It's nice outside, so why don't you just go for a walk? It'll clear your head, and it'll make you move around."

The blonde smiled sadly and nodded. "Yeah, maybe that'll do some good." She pulled a white hoodie over her head and grabbed her phone. "I shouldn't be out for long."

Kairi was right; the cool air swishing around her pale face was refreshing, and the sun felt warm on her skin as she left the Hinomoto manor. The wind rustled through the sakura blossoms and caught the fallen petals in small tornados as Naminé made her way through the gates; the neighbourhood looked pretty straight forward, so she was sure she was not going to get lost. She eyed the gigantic McMansions as she walked, wondering if she knew who lived in which house. When she caught a glimpse of the geometric architecture of the Katsura manor she gulped and quickened her pace.

The growling of an incoming motorcycle engine made her look over her shoulder; she raised an eyebrow as Riku stopped in front of her. He pulled his helmet off and grinned.

"What a coincidence," He laughed, "I was just about to turn into Sora's place when I saw you." He eyed the forlorn expression on Naminé's face and frowned. "Hey, are you alright?" When she did not answer, his lips thinned into a nearly straight line. "Oh...I heard what happened."

Her head immediately jerked upwards to gape at him. "Huh? How do you-"

"Best friends with Sora, remember?" Riku poked himself in the chest, and Naminé blushed. "I told you not to get yourself involved with him. You could've gotten seriously hurt."

She tugged on her hair and moved to sit on the curb. "I know...but...ugh. I've been beating myself up over this since it happened. I feel like crap."

"I'll be honest with you; you kinda look like it." Naminé glared up at him as he chuckled and sat down beside her. "I'm joking - you don't look that bad. You do seem a little out of it, though."

"It's a really long story." The blonde sighed, burying her face in her hands.

"So there's more? I thought it just had to do with Friday." She heard the suspicion in his voice, and she cringed.

"A whole lot more," She confessed; her voice was slightly muffled behind her fingers, "But I don't really feel like talking about it right now."

Riku leaned back on his palms and tilted his head upwards to look at the sky. "That's fine," He answered casually, "But I'm telling you now; if you're just gonna continue to sulk for the rest of the day it's not gonna help anyone, especially you."

She pulled her face away from her hands and smiled shyly at him. "Y-yeah, I know."

He smirked. "That's more like it. Forget about him - he'll only bring you more trouble." He rose to his feet and offered his hand to her, which she accepted. "You hungry? Sora can wait."

Naminé nodded. "Okay."

He tossed her a new spare helmet. "I found one that'll probably fit you this time, so you won't have to worry about your brain bouncing around or anything." They both hopped on the bike and Riku revved the engine; they zoomed down the street and turned a corner in record time. After passing through a couple more blocks they stopped at a fast food restaurant.

"You should know better than to mingle with a member of a gang," Riku scolded her as he returned to their booth with a tray of food, "Especially if that member's a part of The XIII."

"You know anything about them?" Naminé asked skeptically as she nibbled on a couple of fries. Riku laughed and leaned back against his seat.

"When your uncle's chief of the Deyton police department you get in on the little things happening around town that nobody else knows." He smirked and sipped from his drink, "The XIII haven't been around for very long but they've probably committed more crimes than any other street gang in the entire city. They've done nearly everything: vandalism, theft, assault, even arson - and each member specializes in something, so when they work together the damage they cause is massive."

"Specialize?" Naminé chewed on her bottom lip and reached for her hair, "Er, do you-"

"Roxas Katsura," Riku scoffed, "Number XIII. He's known for breaking and entering. Guy's known for making a pick out of practically anything - he can unlock doors in a cinch. He's hard to catch 'cause he knows the city pretty well, and he's good at keeping low." He shook his head in disappointment and his long tendrils of silvery hair swayed around his face. "Honestly, I don't know what you see in him."

Maybe that was how they managed to get into the theatre on Friday…

_No,_ Naminé frowned, _he had to be telling the truth. You didn't see him pick any locks. Don't lose trust in him. Not yet. _"I find him easy to get along with - you should just give him a chance, Riku. He's nice, and thoughtful, and-"

"He's good at twisting his words, I'll give him that," Riku was speaking through clenched teeth, "Thinks he can get away with just about anything - fights, girls, whatever - he doesn't face things straight up, like a man."

"But he did when Seifer came; he was up against three people!" The blonde countered, but Riku only shook his head.

"Naminé, I don't want to argue with you," His expression softened and he sighed as he leaned forward to unwrap his burger, "So I'll respect your opinion. You have your reasons and I have mine, but I just want to warn you, okay? You're my friend, and I look out for my friends. From my experience Roxas is a bad guy, and I don't want you to get all bothered because of him 'cause in my opinion, he isn't worth it."

"I understand what you're trying to say," She glanced down at her fries, "And I'm sorry we have clashing opinions, but I appreciate the fact that you're just trying to look out for me. That's very sweet of you, Riku. Thanks."

He smirked. "Anytime."

Though her worry over Roxas was still stronger, Riku's words had again filled her with doubt. She never knew that the sweet blond who took her out on Friday had a penchant for breaking into places, and the way Riku mentioned something about being good at twisting words made her feel a little uncomfortable.

"Say hi to Sora for me." She smiled as she hopped off his motorcycle; he had just dropped her back at the mansion. She handed back the spare helmet and he grinned.

"Only if you cheer up some more." She deliberately widened her smile, and he laughed. "That's more like it - I'll see you around, Naminé!"

"Bye." She watched him until he disappeared behind the gate, and then she turned back towards the mansion and made her way inside. As she reached for the door handle to her room Kairi's door burst open and the redhead appeared.

"You said you weren't gonna be out for very long," She muttered, "I was _this_ close to calling you!"

"I actually bumped into Riku," Naminé admitted sheepishly, "And we went to get something to eat."

"Oh yeah...Sora mentioned something about hanging out with him today." Kairi pulled her cousin into her room, and they both sat on the bed. "You seem a little better than before - did Riku cheer you up?"

"Not exactly," The blonde frowned, "He only made me feel more doubtful about..._him,_ but it was nice seeing him I guess. I think it's more of the fresh air that did the cheering up for me than anything else."

"Well, that's good to hear," Kairi sighed in relief and fell back against the mattress, "It was getting a little depressing with you moping around all day."

Her blonde cousin smiled and lied down beside her. "Sorry for bringing you and Sora down - I didn't mean to, really."

"Ah, it's alright," The redhead shrugged, "I can see where you're coming from, anyway. I'd be worried sick too."

"Do you think he'll be at school tomorrow?" She sounded a little too hopeful, more than she thought she was.

"I dunno, honestly," Kairi frowned, "Sora said that he's not home yet…"

The aching in Naminé's chest was starting to come back, and she hugged herself subconsciously. She felt Kairi's arms encircle her and she rolled around to press her face into her cousin's shoulder. The rest of the day slugged on by and by the time evening came around Naminé was lying face-up on her bed, staring straight up at her bed overhang.

Another sleepless night had passed; by Monday morning her reflexes were shot and her eyes were half-open. Kairi eyed her worriedly as they stepped into the Maybach.

"Nami," The redhead leaned over to touch her cousin's arm; the blonde slowly turned to face her with sleepy, bloodshot eyes, "You didn't sleep again."

The blonde groaned and buried her face in her hands. "This has got to stop," She mumbled pathetically, "Maybe school will be a big enough distraction - that is, if he doesn't show up."

"I think that's a possibility," Kairi was staring out the window; they were already at the student centre, and Sora was the only one waiting for them. He looked like he did not get any sleep last night either.

"No sign of him yet, huh?" Sora gave the girls a dour smile as they approached him. He yawned and shook his spiky head. "I tried calling him again - nothing, as usual."

"He'll turn up eventually," Kairi assured him, and leaned into him for a comforting hug; he tiredly wound his arms around her waist and pressed his cheek against the top of her head, "You guys should just focus on today - you need a break from all this worrying."

The sight of Sora and Kairi embracing made Naminé feel very lonely, and she unconsciously wrapped her arms around herself. "Y-yeah," She murmured, "You're right. We shouldn't think about it too much...he'll come around." Soon afterward Kairi left to go to homeroom, and Sora and Naminé began to make their way towards theirs.

"So you hung out with Riku yesterday," Sora remarked after yawning again, "He wasn't much of a help, was he?"

Naminé giggled despite of how tired she was at the moment. "He really doesn't like your brother."

"Not at all," The brunet agreed as they ascended the stone steps, "Like I said their fight a few years back was pretty bad."

"He knows a lot about The XIII too," The blonde frowned, tugging on her hair, "So I guess he has other reasons."

"Yeah, Riku comes from a law-enforced family so anything that includes any rule breaking is a no-no to him." They reached the second floor, and Sora began to pull his blazer on. "Anyway, I'll see you during lunch."

She waved half-heartedly before stepping into her own class. History was as boring as usual, but without Roxas sitting beside her it was even worse. It was like the colour had been sucked out of everything; the world looked duller and less interesting. Math was not very different, even with Kairi to talk to.

"You said you were gonna try and focus on school," Her redheaded cousin rolled her eyes, "And you're doing the complete opposite!"

"I can't help it," Naminé sighed as she thunked her head on her desk, clamping her eyes shut, "I haven't heard from him all weekend, Kairi, and the last time I saw him he was getting ready to fight _three_ people - how else am I supposed to feel?"

Lunch was equally miserable; she slumped at the table, brooding over her thoughts as the others chatted cheerily around her. Sora was too tired to even look depressed; his head was down on the table, and he was snoring softly.

"Naminé," A soft voice spoke up, and she looked up to see Olette staring back in concern, "I know you're not in the best of moods right now, but you have to try and cheer up."

"How did you deal with all of this?" The blonde asked; her voice was a little higher than usual, like she was trying to hold back tears, "This must've happened to you a dozen times - wasn't it agonizing?"

"Of course it was," The brunette smiled ruefully, "But I learned to trust him over time - you need to do the same. Give him time to adjust to the things he's going through right now, and he'll come back to you when he feels he's ready. If he means a lot to you, then I'm sure you mean a lot to him too."

"Well said." Naminé frowned, her finger twisted around her curl of hair. When lunch ended she made her way towards English with Hayner and Sora (everyone had to scream into his ear to wake him up) and she endured it just as she endured her previous two classes. In Gym Sora was her partner and the both of them were so out of it Mr. Tanaka made them sit out for the last twenty minutes of class to 'pull themselves together'.

"Well, that was a disaster." Sora yawned as they emerged from the gym, fully dressed. Naminé shook her head and rubbed her eyes.

"It's your brother's fault, not ours."

They made their way back to their lockers, where Kairi was waiting for them as usual. The Maybach was by the student centre, on time as always, and as Naminé crawled into the sleek black interior of the expensive car all she could think about now was dropping into bed and sleeping off the rest of the day.

"Er, Nami?" Kairi tapped on her cousin's shoulder; the blonde opened her eyes and raised an eyebrow.

"What is it?"

The redhead was pointing towards something outside her window; Naminé leaned over her to see that they were making their way towards the front of the Hinomoto manor. When she saw the shiny BMW sitting by the curb her heart began to pound. The moment the car stopped she scrambled outside, her eyes stinging. Roxas was leaning against the side of his car; he was dressed in the clothes she last saw him in, but his white shirt was ripped and he had numerous contusions and abrasions on his face, neck and arms. The skin around his right eye was black and blue, and his hair looked more messy than spiky.

"Roxas," She cried, and collapsed in his arms; she buried her face into his torn shirt and held his torso so tightly she was not sure if he was able to breathe, "I was so worried about you - you weren't answering your phone, and-"

"I'm fine," He pushed her back a little to look at her properly; his tone was strange, almost distant, "And you, are you alright?"

She sniffled and nodded. "Yeah, now that I know you're okay...sort of." She gently took his hands in her own and noticed that parts of the skin on his knuckles had split open. "C'mon, I'll fix you up inside. You can't go home looking like this."

He hesitated for a moment, and then stepped back from her grasp. She raised an eyebrow, confused. "I can't," He shook his head, "I...I don't think this will work, Naminé."

She drew her fists to her chest and stared at him, more puzzled than ever. Her eyes were brimmed with tears and she could feel a lump in her throat forming. "W-what? Don't say that..."

"Your life was put in danger because of me," His eyes and voice hardened, and his hands tightened into fists, "You could've gotten hurt, or worse! Imagine what could've happened if Axel hadn't come to you in time!" He slammed his fist against the car door and she cringed in fear.

"But...I didn't get hurt," She spoke up, though her voice was cracking and too soft to sound convincing, "And Axel came in time. I'm okay, Roxas. This isn't going to happen again-"

"Don't you get it?" He glared at her, and she flinched. "I'm part of a _gang,_ Naminé. I'm a criminal, a felon. I'm not suited for you; I'll only bring you harm."

"Stop talking like that!" She yelled through her tears, "You can't expect me to let you go, after all we've been through in the past two weeks…" She sucked in a large, shaky lungful of air before continuing, "Don't do this to me, Roxas. Please."

He approached her slowly, taking his hands in hers. She looked up at him and a fresh round of tears made their way down her face when she saw the weight in his eyes. "You mean too much to me, Naminé," He spoke dulcetly, "I don't know what I would do if something happens to you."

"Nothing's going to happen," She assured him, reaching up to stroke his cheek, "I trust you."

He jerked away from her touch and hurt pulsated in her chest. "No," He said firmly, dropping her hands, "I don't want this to end up like what happened with Olette. I hurt her, and I know that if we continue on with this you're just going to end up in her situation. I'm no good for you, I'm sorry."

She choked back a sob. "Roxas…"

"It's better this way," He shook his head, trying to avoid her gaze, "Trust me." He circled the car and opened the door to the driver's seat. "Goodbye, Naminé."

"Roxas, wait-" He slammed the door shut and revved the engine; more tears sprung from her eyes as he curved the roundabout and disappeared behind the gate. The blonde sobbed as she sank to the floor, her tears darkening the stones. The aching in her chest was unbearable and it was almost hard to breathe; she was beginning to form a headache from all the crying.

"-don't go."

_--_

_AIN: A portion of this chapter was written with the help of _You Told Me You Loved Me _by Cinematic Sunrise and _Intensity In Ten Cities _by Chiodos - you'll probably know which portion I'm talking about if you listen to the songs, or at least read the lyrics._

_Ironically the singer of both bands is the same guy, but the songs are written in two different perspectives. It gave me a better glimpse in what Roxas and Naminé were thinking and feeling at the moment._

_Three guesses on who's behind those arson crimes...  
_


	12. Picking Up The Pieces

_A/N: Ugh, you see the similarity between this and the Twilight saga too? Sigh, I'm trying to stray away from that, but it's not working. I used to love the series, but the overhypeness (not a word, I know) of it eventually got me hating it. It makes me regret even reading the books in the first place. Don't worry, I'm not plot-stealing! It's just coincidence that the story's going in a similar direction._

_C'mon imagination, work for me just this one time…_

_I promise you it'll only be Twilight-esque for this and perhaps another chapter...or so. If you hate Twilight as much as I do, you'll be patient and see how the story unfolds XD  
_

--

**Picking Up The Pieces.**

Now that he was gone Naminé could only see everything in black and white. There was no colour or emphasis on anything anymore because there was no reason to search for them. She only saw life as something to endure instead of something to appreciate; her reason to appreciate had driven away in a dark grey BMW.

He hardly came to school now; he would only be present once or twice a week, and whenever he was there he made sure to avoid her as much as he possibly could. In class he sat all the way at the back, and when the bell rang he was always the first to leave. During lunchtime she often caught him wandering towards the soccer field and she always contemplated on whether she should follow him, but she knew that it was not a smart idea to do so.

Her friends, bless them, had tried to bring her out of her depressing daze but it was no use. The only person who could truly empathize with her was Sora, since he too had been suffering from his brother's sudden withdrawal from the world. According to the brunet he was seldom home, and when he was he would hole himself up in either his room or the studio, refusing to talk to anybody.

Naminé was no different; after what happened she preferred as less company as possible. Talking to people was a hardship because she always had to wrack her brains for something to say; if she did not say anything everyone would assume that she was still thinking about _him - _which, of course, was always the case.

The only good thing that came out of this downward spiral was that it had given her new inspiration; she spent most of her time in her studio nowadays, taking out her frustration and pain on the canvas. Her sketchbooks were filled with numerous drawings; if one were to look closely at them they would be able to catch a glimpse of spiky hair and a pair of alluring eyes.

The weather had gotten considerably colder by November; Naminé popped the collar of her grey peacoat as she left the Maybach one chilly Thursday morning.

"I hate wintertime," Kairi grumbled from beside her; her voice was muffled behind her striped scarf, "The cold is so irritating, and then there's the snow and ice and slush...ugh, such a bother."

"I know what you mean," The blonde sighed, ducking her face behind her coat collar, "I was never a fan of winter either."

"Hey guys," Sora was sitting by the steps to the student centre, wearing a black ski jacket with yellow, blue and red patterns on it, "Enjoying the weather? I can't wait 'till the snow comes!"

"That's where we're different." Kairi muttered, and Naminé giggled. The redhead departed to head for homeroom, leaving the blonde and the brunet to head to theirs. Sora usually used their brief time together updating her on his brother's whereabouts.

"Same old, same old," He sighed as he placed his hands behind his spiky head, "He's closed up tight, Naminé - he won't say a single thing to me."

The blonde twirled her curl of hair around her index finger. "I see...thanks, anyway."

She sat patiently in History, her eyes locked on the doorway. She always hoped she would see him rushing through with his tie undone and his sleeves pushed up like always but he never came. She wondered if he was planning to go to school at all this week, since it was nearly over. She doodled idly as the lecture dragged on, frowning when she realized she was drawing misshapen guitars and pianos. When Math came around she was just as distracted as she was during homeroom.

"Algebra, I will slay you." Kairi muttered despicably as she ran through her paper with an eraser; she turned towards her cousin, who was staring into space and balancing a pencil in between her fingers. "Nami, are you alright?"

"Mm?" The blonde turned her head and nodded, though the expression on her face told her cousin otherwise. "Yeah. Don't worry about me."

The redhead raised an eyebrow. "You've never been the greatest liar, you know." She dropped her eraser and rested her chin in her palm. "You need to stop thinking about it."

She narrowed her eyes. "Don't you think I've been _trying_ to do that? Stop trying to lecture me, Kairi - it's getting tiring." When she eyed the shocked expression on her cousin's face she sighed and shook her head. "Look, I'm sorry, I...I'm just so frustrated. I'm mad at myself for not getting over it; I'm pathetic, I know."

"You are not pathetic," Kairi leaned over to rub her cousin's shoulder, "And I'm sorry for bothering you about it all the time; I just want you to be happy. It makes me miserable when you're miserable, and the fact that Sora's practically in the same boat as you doesn't make things any better."

"I know I've been distant to you and the others lately," Naminé frowned; she reached upwards to clasp hands with her cousin, "It's very selfish of me. I'll try to cheer up more for your sake."

"I'll keep your word on that," Kairi grinned, "And I'm going to make sure Sora gets the message too!"

Naminé tried her best to look cheerful during lunch; she engaged in casual conversation with her friends as they ate, and she made sure to actually eat this time instead of solemnly staring at it like it was the most pathetic thing she had ever seen. Kairi forced Sora into talking and joking around like his usual self and it kind of worked; by the time English had come he was somewhat smiling.

"I guess we both have to try and be happy," Sora sighed as they sat down, "For Kairi's sake, at least. I feel bad for making her worry."

"Kairi's sake? You mean ours," Naminé smirked as she pulled her books out of her bag, "She'll go berserk if we keep on like this for another week or so."

"And what am I, chopped liver?" Both of them turned around; Hayner was chuckling and shaking his head. "Olette's been pestering me about you guys for weeks now; give me a break and cheer up already, would you?"

Both Sora and Naminé flushed. "We'll try, Hayner, we'll try." The brunet held his hands up in defeat, and the two blondes laughed.

In Gym they had moved onto a new sport: basketball. Naminé was barely capable of playing badminton, so basketball was an impossibility for her. She flinched whenever Sora passed her the ball, and she did not even think of trying to shoot it, since it probably would not even reach the net anyway.

"Woo," Sora huffed, wiping his forehead with the back of his hand, "I'm actually breaking a sweat. Sure beats badminton, doesn't it?"

The blonde ducked and narrowly avoided an incoming basketball. She rolled her eyes. "Of course it does."

Gym ended soon afterwards, thankfully, and Naminé rushed towards the change room to change back into her uniform. Sora was making fun of her lack of coordination all the way back to her locker.

"You can draw and paint like a pro, but you can't dribble a basketball to save your life," The brunet chuckled, "That's insane!"

"Nami was showing off in Gym again?" Kairi was leaning against her cousin's locker, smirking. "You really gotta stop doing that - it's rude!"

The blonde sighed and pushed her cousin away so she could open her locker. "I hate you guys."

"I was talking to Olette earlier," The redhead piped up, "She wants to hang out tomorrow after school - y'know, to help you guys get your mind off of stuff. Maybe we'll go see a movie or something, and get dinner."

"That sounds like fun," Sora agreed, slipping his hand down to hers, "Are you in, Naminé?"

She shrugged as she closed her locker. "Maybe...I dunno."

"No," Kairi scowled as the three walked out of the SS Wing, "I don't care what kind of excuse you've got for me this time - you're coming whether you like it or not." The Maybach was waiting for them patiently by the curb and she stood on her toes to peck Sora on the lips. "See you."

"Bye guys." He waved once as the girls climbed into the car.

"I don't want a depressed hermit for a cousin," Kairi narrowed her eyes at the blonde, who was distractedly staring out the window, "You've been refusing to hang out with us since it happened; this is unhealthy!"

Naminé groaned and pressed her cheek against the tinted glass. "I'm just not feeling it, Kairi-"

"You've been inhaling _way _too much of those paint fumes - you haven't been _feeling it_ for two months now! Even Sora's growing back some backbone by hanging out with us every once in awhile." The redhead leaned forward and brushed her fingers against her cousin's shoulder, "I thought you said you'd try and cheer up."

Kairi's eyes were sad, and it made the blonde feel guilty. She sighed and leaned into her, wrapping her arms around her small frame and resting her head against her shoulder. "I'm trying my best, really," She mumbled into the redhead's coat, "I didn't think it would be this hard."

"You've got to try harder," She felt Kairi's fingers run through her hair, "I know you're better than this, Nami."

She sighed. "Boys are stupid."

Her cousin giggled. "Agreed."

Once they arrived home the girls scrambled up to their respective rooms to change and finish their homework. Luckily for Naminé the load was not very heavy today, which gave her a lot of extra time to work on her art. She turned on her computer's music player and strolled into her studio; nearly every inch of the four walls were covered in her work, and all of them had to do something with a certain blond-haired boy.

She felt like sketching today; she sat in front of her drafting table and reached underneath to grab a sketchbook that was not completely filled up yet. She flipped it open to a fresh page and reached for a few pencils sticking out of the holder at the top corner of her desk. Sighing and resting her chin in her palm, she began to flick upwards against the paper, creating some sort of jagged, spiky pattern. She continued doodling, waiting for some kind of inspiration to come hit her full force, but after fifteen minutes she realized that she was not going to get anything done today. She blew upwards in frustration, moving her bangs out of her eyes, and turned around in her chair to leave the studio. So much for that.

She should be happy; this was actually the first time she had artist's block since the incident two months ago. Maybe this was some kind of sign; was she finally starting to get over him? Was it possible that she had finally painted and drawn him enough times to finally eradicate the ache she had for him?

Naminé sighed and collapsed face-first on her bed, exhaling slowly into the down pillows. She still felt heavy inside but not as much as before; it was almost like a few pounds had been lifted off her shoulders, but not the entire weight. It was a relieving feeling, to say the least. She rolled over on her back and stared upwards at her overhang, watching the white sheets rifle gracefully. Now she was bored.

She briefly debated on whether she should barge into Kairi's room and bother her, but usually the redhead was the one that did all the bothering in the house; she was probably still doing her homework. Even after being friends with her for two months she still felt a little iffy on calling Olette, and Sora was out of the question since he too reminded her of _him._ Hayner and Pence lived in the city, so they lived too far to hang out with for just a few hours…

That only left one person.

Naminé crawled over to the foot of her bed and leaned over the edge to unzip the pocket of her bag that held her phone. She hastily scrolled down her contact list and paused on Riku's name. For some reason she felt nervous calling him, and her hand unconsciously moved to her hair as she held the small white phone to her ear.

Riku picked up on the second ring. "Naminé?" Wherever he was, it was very noisy; she heard various voices and other things going on in the background.

"Er, hey Riku," The blonde stammered, "Where...where are you right now?"

"Oh, I'm just about to leave school," He replied casually; he paused for a moment, and in the distance she heard him yell something to another person, but it was too distorted to make out properly. "Why, what's up?"

"Uh, nothing," She pulled on her curl of hair and flopped back against her bed. She was trying to think up of something smart to say but she failed miserably, and she ended up stuttering and hesitating like an idiot. "Erm…"

When she heard his laughter on the other end her cheeks flushed in embarrassment. "Lemme guess," She could hear the grin in his voice, "You're bored but Kairi's too busy to pay attention to you, and you want someone to fill in as her substitute."

Her eyes widened in surprise. "Yeah, that's exactly it."

Riku laughed again, and her blush worsened. "Well, I guess I can fill in for a few hours, but I've got a few things to do. If you don't mind, you can tag along if you want."

She shrugged even though she knew that he would not be able to see. "I don't mind - I've got nothing better to do."

"Cool," There was a slight rustling noise, like he was putting a jacket on, "Uh, I'll probably be at your place in around twenty minutes or so. Is that alright?"

"I can wait."

"Alright, I'll see you in a bit, then."

"Okay, bye." She cancelled the call and stared at the screen for a few minutes before tossing it beside her on the mattress. She could not help but feel a little excited; it had been over two months since she actually went out for recreational reasons, and the last time she hung out with Riku was the day before the incident, so it would be refreshing to see him again.

Now, how will she kill twenty minutes?

Naminé sat up and looked around the room, trying to find something to dawdle on; she hopped off her bed and wandered her room, tugging on her curl of hair. She perused the books on the shelves, realizing that she had never read any of them before, and made a mental note to actually start sometime in the near future. She then moved onto her desk and skimmed through her music player, analyzing the songs Kairi had downloaded for her. Somehow twenty minutes managed to fly by, and before she knew it her phone was vibrating.

"I'm outside," Riku said, and she grinned.

"Coming." She raced out of her room and immediately knocked on Kairi's door. It opened, revealing a sleepy looking redhead with half-open blue eyes; she was taking a _nap_ all this time?

"I thought you were busy with homework." Naminé raised an eyebrow. Kairi yawned and shrugged her shoulders.

"I was tired."

The blonde shook her head amusedly. "Well, I was just gonna tell you that I'm hanging out with Riku for a little bit - he's outside right now. Want to come with?"

"Nah," Kairi yawned again, stretching her arms, "I think I'm gonna sleep some more. It's good that you're returning to the real world, Nami. You two have fun."

After her cousin closed the door the blonde made her way down the hallway and the marble steps; she hastily buttoned up her coat before opening the double doors. Riku was leaning against his motorcycle, still dressed in his uniform: black dress shoes, grey pants, white dress shirt, navy tie and forest green blazer - and his head was bent over his cell phone, allowing a few wisps of silvery hair to fall over his sharp turquoise eyes. He heard her approaching footsteps and he looked up to smirk at her.

"Hey, Naminé." He greeted cheerily, waving once and pocketing his phone. She raised an eyebrow as she eyed his attire.

"Uh, aren't you cold?"

He chuckled as he tossed her a spare helmet. He swung one leg over the motorcycle and reached for his helmet. "I'll be fine."

"So," She pulled the helmet on and hopped in behind him, "What are these _things_ that you have to do?"

"Well," His voice was slightly muffled behind his helmet; he turned around to see if she put hers on right, and then returned to facing the front, "First I have to swing by the shop to get some parts for this-" He patted the motorcycle, "-then I'll have to install them, and afterwards we can do whatever you want. Shouldn't take super long. Is that alright with you?"

She shrugged. "Sure."

Riku kicked off on the motorcycle and zoomed out of the roundabout in mere seconds. The frigid air stung Naminé's fingers and she could not feel her hands; luckily the face guard on her helmet prevented the wind from hitting her face. They drove for a pretty long time; around half an hour later Riku finally pulled the bike into a regular-looking auto shop. The smaller, rundown houses vaguely reminded her of the day she ate ramen with - no, she had to stop thinking about him. Today was the day she started over; she needed to pick up the pieces and pull herself back together.

"Sorry if the ride was a little long," Riku said sheepishly as he pulled off his helmet, "Motorcycles tend to get a little uncomfortable on long trips when you're not used to it."

Naminé smiled shyly as she unstrapped hers. "I'm alright." She followed him towards the entrance of the shop. "Uh, so what are we getting here?"

"You probably won't know what it is if I told you." He chuckled; he opened the door for her and placed his hand on the small of her back, gently pushing her inside. She turned around to roll her eyes at him, and he chuckled again. He approached the shop owner and immediately dived into an elaborate conversation about motorcycles, engines, suspension, something about fork tubes...it was too complicated for her to keep up, so she just stood awkwardly beside him, bouncing on her heels.

"Naminé," She felt Riku's calloused fingers around her thin wrist, and she looked up to see him smirking at her; in his other hand he was pulling a small wagon behind him, "C'mon."

"Where are we going?" She asked as he tugged her towards a door at the back of the shop.

"Getting the parts I need." He replied simply, and she 'ah-ed' in understanding. They were now standing outside in the cold once again, in the middle of numerous piles of what looked like spare automobile pieces. She watched her friend wander in between piles, searching for the things he needed; it did not take him very long, and before she knew it he was standing before her with his wagon full of...whatever it was that he needed.

"Are you finished with your shopping spree?" She leaned over to eye the various things sitting in his wagon.

"Yep," He grinned and rubbed the back of his head, "Sorry if you're bored."

"No, no," She shook her head, "I don't mind. It's nice to get some fresh air, at least."

He managed to strap the pieces to the motorcycle and they drove back to their lavish neighbourhood. Naminé could not help but feel a little excited, mostly because she had never been to Riku's house yet. Once they passed the gates she was able to see a large white house with French windows and black shingles; it looked around as big as the Hinomoto manor. Riku swerved to the left, driving down the paved pathway towards a garage that was bigger than her house in Twilight Town. The interior was littered with all kinds of expensive looking cars and bikes; it made Naminé feel like she was in an auto show instead of a friend's personal garage.

"So," Riku pushed his bike into an open space; by the far wall various tools were hanging from hooks, and there was a work bench covered with more tools. He shrugged out of his blazer and tossed it onto the hood of a nearby car, "It's been awhile since we last hung out. What have you been doing the last couple of months?"

A dull throbbing made itself present in the centre of Naminé's chest, and she clutched at it unconsciously. "Nothing," She mumbled pathetically, "Nothing worth mentioning, at least."

"You're a bad liar," He chuckled as he rolled up his sleeves, and she narrowed her eyes at him as she moved to rest against the hood of one of the cars; he approached her and leaned beside her, his eyes apologetic. "Something happened between you and him." It was more of a statement than a question, and it hurt when she nodded to confirm his suspicions. He frowned and rubbed the back of his head. "Do you want to talk about it?"

At first she felt a little uncomfortable, but it quickly melted away when she turned to look at him. She stared at him for a few seconds, blushing when she realized she had not said anything yet. "Er," Her hand automatically moved to her hair, "He told me that he wasn't good enough for me."

"He's got that right," Riku scoffed, and she rolled her eyes when she was sure he was not looking, "But out of curiosity, why did he tell you that?"

For some reason she did not mind telling him what happened; she stared at her shoes as she continued on with her explanation, her curl of hair twisted around her finger. "I think he just feared for my safety," She murmured, her thoughts reeling back to the day she found his BMW waiting for her by the curb after school, "Basically he told me that because he was in a gang, my safety was at risk." She frowned and exhaled shakily. "He also mentioned something about not wanting a relationship that'll most likely end up like his last one...the one with Olette."

"Well, it's his fault," Riku muttered as he lifted himself off the hood of the car; he moved towards the tool bench and gathered the things he needed, and then he knelt over by his motorcycle and began to tinker with it. "If he wasn't in The XIII he wouldn't have to worry about keeping you safe, and his relationship with Olette wouldn't have ended - at least not in the way that it did." He grimaced as he wrenched out a particularly stubborn screw, "If you've been sulking for the past two months about it then all I have to say to you is that you've been wasting your time. None of it was your fault, so you shouldn't feel bad about it. It's his fault that he left you, and his fault that he made the wrong decisions that led to him leaving you."

She blinked at him wordlessly, drinking his words in. After a couple of minutes of not replying he glanced over his shoulder and chuckled at her.

"Was that too direct?"

Flushing, she shook her head, her platinum blonde tendrils swaying wildly. "N-no, it's just-" She paused for a minute, thinking of what to say, "-it's just that...that was probably the best advice I've been given in the past two months."

Riku chuckled again as he wrung his hands with a dirty rag. "Not even Kairi came up with something more enlightening?"

Naminé smiled shyly. "Nope."

"I'm actually quite shocked," He grinned as he reached for a smaller wrench, "Kairi's usually the voice of reason."

"Yeah, well, your voice is more reasonable than hers - for now." She grinned back.

The afternoon passed easily with Riku; she mostly watched him fix up his motorcycle. For a brief time she acted as his assistant, handing him the tools he was asking for, but after handing him the wrong tools for the fifth time she decided it was better if she just spectated. They talked about happier things, much to her relief, and it helped her take her mind off of _him_ for at least a little while.

"When are you planning to take your road test?" Riku asked her a few hours later; he was now running through his motorcycle with a rag and some polish.

"I dunno," Naminé replied uncertainly, pulling on her hair, "I haven't really taken classes yet, nor have I actually stepped into the driver's seat-"

His booming laugh cut her off, and she flushed and stared at the floor. "You haven't even _tried_ to drive yet? When did you get your learner's permit?"

"...Last year." Her voice was so low he had to lean in to hear her properly.

"That means you're eligible for your road test! Why don't you start taking classes?"

"Well, I dunno - I was thinking of waiting until the summertime so I can take classes at home, and then I can take my road test there since I'm more familiar with the area," She hesitated and tugged a little harder on her hair, "But that's kinda far from now."

"Way too far." He agreed. He stood up and wiped his forehead with the back of his hand. "Why don't I teach you how to drive? You won't be spending money, and with my expert teaching skills you'll be driving by next month!"

She laughed and raised a skeptical eyebrow. "Oh, really now? Are you _that_ good? If I recall you told me once that you were more of a biker than a car driver."

"Just because I prefer riding a motorcycle doesn't mean I'm horrible at driving a car." He smirked, and she flushed again. "Wanna try twice a week? You pick the days."

She tapped her chin with one finger. "Hm, how does Tuesday and Thursday sound?"

He shrugged and tossed the rag and polish aside. "Fine with me, He gestured towards his motorcycle. "Or maybe you'd like to try out for a biker's license?"

She giggled and shook her head. "Maybe some other time."

It was getting late, so Riku offered to take her home. He actually tried convincing her to stay over for dinner but she refused, insisting that she was not that hungry anyway, and did not want to be a burden.

"You're no burden to anybody, Naminé," Riku chuckled as the motorcycle stopped in front of the Hinomoto manor, "You need to think higher of yourself."

"Like I haven't heard that before." She muttered to herself as she stepped off; she handed him the helmet and smiled. "I guess I'll see you next Tue-_oh!"_ Her eyes suddenly widened as if she just remembered something, and Riku raised an eyebrow.

"Yes?"

"Um, Kairi and Olette want to go to the movies and hang out tomorrow after school," The blonde was tugging on her hair again, "Er, you can come too if you'd like, or if you're not busy, or a-anything." She flushed and dropped her gaze to the floor; taking initiative was such a challenge for her for some reason.

She heard him chuckle, and she looked up to see him nodding his head. "Sure, I think I can come. I'll give you guys a call tomorrow." He pulled his helmet back on and waved, and she waved back as he zipped out of the roundabout.

"So how was hanging out with Riku?" Kairi asked; the two cousins were sitting on the bed of the redhead's room.

"It was fun," Naminé shrugged, "Nothing special - we just hung out in his garage, and I watched him tinker with his bike. Er," She bit her bottom lip and glanced at her cousin out of the corner of her eye, "He's gonna give me driving lessons."

"Driving lessons?" The redhead raised a suspicious eyebrow, and one corner of her mouth twitched upwards in a mischievous smirk. "Sounds...kinky."

"I _knew_ you were going to interpret it as something else!" The blonde groaned and flopped backwards on the bed, covering her face with her pale hands, "We're _friends, _Kairi! He's just giving me driving lessons so I can take my road test sooner!" She glimpsed at her cousin through the spaces in between her fingers. "Why don't you ask him for help? You need to start driving too!"

Kairi laughed and shrugged her shoulders. "Nah, maybe I'll just go for classes or something. I wanna give you two some alone time." She narrowly dodged an incoming pillow and laughed some more.

Her blonde cousin sighed and shook her head. "Riku's nice and everything, but...I dunno. I only see him as a friend and nothing more." She rolled over on her side and clutched a pillow to her chest, groaning. "It's too soon to start thinking about that kinda stuff anyway."

The redhead frowned. "I guess, or maybe you just need to spend more time with him. Your _driving lessons_-"She made mock quotation marks with her fingers, "-can help you out with that."

_"Kairi…"_

"Okay, okay, serious time begins...now." She lied down beside Naminé and threw her arms around her. "You need to get over that, Nami. First heartbreaks are always a killer, but look at it this way: you weren't really _together_ together, so it kinda doesn't count, right?"

"I guess," The blonde shrugged, "But...it was just the way he made me feel. He made everything else go away whenever he was around, like...like it was just the two of us." The memory of playing piano together in the theatre flickered across her mind, and her chest contracted painfully. "It was something I know you don't get with a lot of people, you know? He...he was the only one who ever made me feel like that."

"Aw, Nami…" Kairi gently pushed her cousin's head into her shoulder, and she raked her fingers through her hair. "I know he was special to you, but there are just some things we have no control over. It's time to pick up the pieces and move on."

"Pick up the pieces…" Naminé murmured into Kairi's shoulder, "Yeah, I think...I think I'm ready to do that now." She pulled away from her cousin to smile at her, and the redhead smiled back.

"I hope you'll keep your word this time, 'cause starting tomorrow you are no longer sulking about this, you understand?"

The blonde nodded, and her smile broadened. "Yes ma'am."


	13. Brotherly Love

_A/N: New car alert: Mustang GT Coupe!_

_I was thinking of writing this story again, but this time in Roxas' POV. Technically it won't be a sequel, but if I plan to go through with it I'll probably publish it after I finish this story. The thing is, it'll make this even _more_ Twilight-esque than it already is. What do you guys think?_

_--_

**Brotherly Love.**

The weekend passed with ease, now that Naminé was finally returning to the real world. She spent Friday, Saturday and Sunday with her friends, and she forgot how refreshing it felt to be around them. She missed the way Hayner and Riku constantly teased Sora, how Pence always seemed to know which stores had sea-salt ice cream, and talking girly talk with Olette and Kairi. By Monday she was looking healthier and happier, much to everyone's relief, and with her new and improved mood it made time pass faster.

It was Tuesday now, and Naminé was anxious to race through school so she could start her first driving lesson with Riku. She felt nervous and excited at the same time, for she had never actually tried to drive a car once; her parents refused to teach her because they had a feeling it would end up in disaster (that would have taken a toll on her self-esteem if it was not the truth) and she was thinking about taking classes but once Riku suggested giving private lessons of his own she really could not say no. He seemed to know everything about cars and bikes and such, so she knew she could trust him.

"Remember to always keep at least one hand on the wheel," Sora instructed her during lunch, "But on the road test you gotta have both hands, 'cause it's a regulation or something like that."

"Keep the speed limit, and always stay on the right side - after making a left turn, switch to the right lane." Olette suggested.

Hayner smirked before taking a sip of his pop. "Make sure you glance into your mirrors every five seconds or so - they're gonna be watching for that."

"And remember to tell Riku to teach you hand-over-hand!" Pence piped up.

Naminé's head was spinning by the time everyone was finished giving their advice. "So much to remember," She complained, "It sounds so complicated."

"It really isn't," Hayner shrugged, "I mean, if Sora passed the test I'm pretty sure you'll be able to ace it too."

The brunet dropped his pizza and turned to glare at his friend. "Hey, what's that supposed to mean?"

Everyone shook with laughter, and Sora grumbled under his breath and rolled his eyes. The brunet was still grumbling about it on the way to English.

"Aw, Sora, don't be discouraged," Naminé patted her friend's shoulder as they sat at their respective desks, "You're a good driver, no matter what they say."

"I still have to see it to believe it." Hayner piped up from behind, and Sora rolled his eyes.

Basketball was horrendous once again; Naminé made an embarrassing attempt at shooting the ball, and when Tidus passed to her she held her hands out wrong so the ball actually hit her full force in the stomach, winding her for a good couple of minutes. She tripped over her own feet once every five minutes, and in the last fifteen minutes of class she stuck to hiding behind Sora while he ran around the court. By the time school ended she was relieved, though her abdomen still felt a bit sore.

"What's wrong, Nami?" Kairi asked as she watched her cousin open her locker, "You look like you're in pain."

"I am," The blonde grimaced as she pulled her textbooks out, "I got hit with a basketball today. I feel like my stomach's been flattened."

"You got _hit_ with a basketball? You know it's supposed to be a non-contact sport." The redhead raised an eyebrow.

Naminé rolled her eyes. "For me, _everything's_ a contact sport."

After bidding their farewells to Sora the girls clambered into the Maybach. By now Naminé's stomach was finally beginning to return to normal, and she was able to breathe properly again.

"So what time's Riku coming?" Kairi asked as they made their way towards their rooms.

"Er, I think in around an hour or so." Naminé pulled her phone out of her bag. "He's gonna call me."

Her redheaded cousin raised her eyebrows suggestively. "Well, have fun. Once you learn how to _do it_ in _automatic_ you can ask him to show you _stick shift_, if you so desire."

Naminé's cheeks flared a violent red and she pushed Kairi into her room. The redhead laughed and closed the door on her, and the blonde cursed under her breath and stormed into her room.

Sexual innuendos, driving lessons and male friends do _not_ mix, thank you very much.

She exhaled slowly as she moved to sit at her desk; with an hour to kill she might as well start on her homework. She booted up her music player to fill in the silence as she read through her history textbook, made notes on King Lear and fumbled over trigonometry equations. Frankly she did not care if she got those equations right; when was she ever going to need to know how to solve a triangle, anyway?

"Sine...cosine...tangent…" She shook her head and rubbed her eyes with her knuckles. Numbers, triangles and equations plagued her head and it was making the room spin. Thankfully her phone began to vibrate and she reached for it immediately, sighing in relief when she heard Riku's voice on the other end.

"Hey," He greeted in his usual casual fashion, "You ready for your first driving lesson?"

"I think so," Naminé replied, tugging on her hair, "Hopefully it'll be better than solving triangles."

He chuckled. "I'm pretty sure it will be. Head on outside - I'm already here."

"Okay." She changed into jeans and a hoodie and raced out of her room, not forgetting to grab her coat along the way. She hopped down the stairs two steps at a time, realizing with shock that she actually was not tripping over thin air, and scrambled out of the manor to see a shiny two-door car waiting for her by the curb. It had tinted windows and the exterior was painted in a rich, dark indigo. Riku emerged from the driver's seat, waving one hand.

"Wow," Naminé gaped at the expensive-looking car, "You're actually trusting me with _this?"_

"Why not?" He grinned, brushing the bangs away from his face. He beckoned her over to the driver's seat and stepped to the side. "Hop in, driver."

The black leather seat was too far away from the wheel; she had to adjust it because she was much shorter than Riku. She heard him step into the passenger's seat, and he taught her how to fix the mirrors. She buckled her seatbelt, noting that her hands were shaking from nervousness. He must have seen it too, because he was chuckling.

"Don't be nervous - it's only me." He pointed towards the wheel. "Alright, first thing's first; your hands must _always_ be on the wheel, near the top...like this." He reluctantly reached for her hands and placed them on the wheel. She flushed at the contact. "Ten o'clock and two o'clock. Get it?"

She nodded. "Er, yeah. Like a clock, right?" _Way to state the obvious._

He nodded and withdrew his hands from hers. "That's right. Now, since we're driving in automatic-" Her cheeks reddened at the memory of Kairi's joke but thankfully Riku was too busy explaining to notice, "-you don't have to worry about a clutch or a handbrake or anything, but you do have to worry about this." He pointed to the shift in between them, and she looked down. "See, right now it's in park so we're not moving. If you push it upwards to drive, the car will start moving forward. Pull it back and you'll go in reverse. Easy, right?"

Naminé raised an eyebrow. "I think I'm getting all of this."

Riku chuckled. "Good - with Sora I had to explain everything at least three times. Anyway, the two pedals by your feet there; right is acceleration, left is your brake. I'm pretty sure you're aware of that, right?" She nodded. "Okay, so set your foot on the brake and shift the gear to drive. We'll go for a cruise around the neighbourhood."

"Uh, okay." Surprisingly she managed to do both things correctly, and once she eased her foot off the brake the car began to inch forward. She twisted the wheel in the direction she wanted the car to go, and it actually obeyed her. Her eyes widened in surprise. "Huh, this isn't as bad as I thought it was. The others made it sound so complicated."

"You're a fast learner," He remarked, and she flushed again, "Remember, when you turn don't cross your arms - the examiners hate that. To turn properly you gotta use a little thing called hand-over-hand steering…"

Riku was a very good teacher, Naminé concluded. She did not slip up at all today - actually there was that time where she accidentally missed that stop sign, but no one was around to see that - much to her surprise, but Riku did not seem as shocked as she was.

"I told you," He shook his head in amusement as they turned into the Hinomoto manor an hour later, "You're a fast learner."

"Usually with anything hands-on I'm a complete mess." The blonde mumbled behind the wheel.

Riku chuckled as she shifted the gear into park. "Maybe you've just never had great teachers like me."

She reddened as they stepped out of the car. Her hand unconsciously moved to her curl of hair, and her eyes remained glued to her shoes. "T-thanks for teaching me today, Riku. I don't know how to owe you for this."

He shrugged. "Ah, that's what friends are for, Naminé. You don't owe me anything." He stepped around towards the driver's seat and opened the door. "On Thursday I'm gonna teach you some parking. Does that scare you at all?"

The blonde gulped. "Kind of, yes."

He chuckled. "It's actually the hardest part of driving - I find it harder than driving highway - but with enough practice you'll get used to it. I'll see you."

"Yeah, see you." She watched him drive away, and then she shuffled back into the manor. As she reached for the doorknob to her room Kairi's door burst open; the redhead grabbed her cousin by the wrist and pulled her inside. Naminé squealed in protest. "Gah, Kairi, what're you-"

"I wanna know how it went!" She pushed the blonde onto her bed and hopped in beside her. "Was he a good teacher? Is he a _hands-on_ kinda guy? Did he demonstrate any _hand-over-hand-"_

The blonde narrowed her eyes. "Seriously, Kairi. Car sex innuendos? Sora's been influencing you." She sighed and tugged on her curl of hair. "He's a good teacher - he's good to the point where I only made _one_ mistake today."

The redhead gasped. "Wow. That's really saying something, actually." She flopped backwards on her bed and stared up at the ceiling. "Y'know, Riku's a real nice guy. Maybe you should-"

"No, a thousand times _no,"_ Naminé held up her hand, "I do not think of Riku that way. You're right, he's nice and everything, but…" She tugged on her hair, thinking of something to say, "I just don't feel like anything's clicking. I think this is the farthest we can go."

"I guess I can see where you're coming from," Kairi shrugged her small shoulders, "I've always loved Riku as a big brother. He's never been anything else but that to me, so when that thing with Sora happened I felt horrible 'cause I kinda wanted Sora to win." She rolled on her stomach and sighed. "Riku isn't exactly lucky when it comes to relationships, I guess."

A heaviness made itself present in the pit of Naminé's stomach. "Stop making me feel bad for him."

The redhead scratched her head. "Yeah, you don't want to take him out on a pity date or anything. Good thinking."

"That's not what I was thinking, Kairi."

"So he's coming around again on Thursday?" Kairi sat up, completely ignoring Naminé's reply. The blonde rolled her eyes but decided not to say anything witty.

"Yeah. He said he's gonna teach me parking."

"Ooh," Kairi clapped her hands together, "So he's gonna make you _back up _and - _mmph!" _

The blonde had pressed a pillow into her cousin's face. "One more car sex joke and I swear I'll smother you."

Naminé had to finish up the rest of her homework (plus Kairi's corny jokes were beginning to make her blood boil) so she left her cousin's room soon afterwards. The evening passed quickly, and by Wednesday morning Naminé was in such a good mood she believed that there was absolutely nothing that could possibly ruin it.

When she entered History, she gaped at the blond sitting in the back row. She shook her surprise off, assuring herself that this was nothing and that his presence should not affect her in any way, but as she sat down she swore she felt his eyes on her back for at least a couple of seconds. A lump grew in her throat as she bent over to pull her books out of her bag, and she could feel her eyes stinging.

This happened every time, and she hated it.

Just when she thought she was finished with her misery _he_ had to show up and remind her of all the things that could have happened if Friday night turned out differently; she groaned and buried her face into her arms, slouching in her chair so she could lean farther forward onto her desk. She forced herself to pay attention to Mr. Watanabe, but it was hard to listen to his lecture when she was fully aware of the person who made her head spin for all the wrong reasons sitting just a row or two behind her.

Once class ended she immediately rose from her chair, gathered her things and hurried to Math. Kairi eyed her cousin's anxious expression as she sat down.

"Lemme guess," The redhead sighed, "He's here again?" Right on cue, he walked into the room and sat at the farthest desk from Naminé's. "Uh huh, just as I thought."

"Make him go away," The blonde moaned in protest, "Make him go away…"

"I'd love to, really, but Sora would hate me in a heartbeat if I killed him, and I'd probably have the rest of The XIII hounding for my head too." Kairi smiled grimly and rubbed Naminé's shoulder. "C'mon, Nami, chin up. Show him that you're perfectly capable of living life without him. You're supposed to be better, remember?"

The blonde sniffled and raised her head from her arms, quickly swiping at her eyes. "Y-yeah, you're right. I'm better now." She did not sound convincing at all, but it was enough for now.

Lunch was comforting, since she was surrounded by her friends. Kairi and Olette made sure that Naminé was hidden from Roxas' vision, who was sitting at a table at the far end with Demyx and Zexion. Sora was dangerously close to confronting his brother, but Pence and Hayner were strong enough to hold him down.

"Honestly, the more I look at him the more angry I get," The brunet muttered as they sat down for English, "He's not cooperating with me at all. He doesn't even look me in the face!" He groaned and slammed his fist on his desk, surprising Naminé, Hayner and a few other students sitting nearby, "What has gotten into him?"

"I-I don't know." Naminé sighed as she pulled on her hair; the brunet's twin brother had just walked into the room and she lowered her voice so he would not hear. "I...I'm sorry for doing this to you, Sora. This is all my fault."

Her friend's face softened and he shook his spiky head. "No, don't say that. It's _his_ fault he's acting this way. He's hurt you, and he's hurt me too. It's none of our faults."

The teacher stood up from his desk, indicating that class was about to start. Naminé sighed and swiveled around in her seat to face the front. After another agonizingly slow hour and ten minutes it was time for the last class of the day. Gym would be a little less painful since she would have to do a lot of running around, and when she was running around she had to pay close attention to her feet so she would not trip over anything, therefore she would not have enough time to think about you-know-who.

Of course fate had to slap her in the face once again when Mr. Tanaka decided to place the both of them on the same team.

"Just stick close to me, Naminé," Tidus assured her; fortunately he was on her team too, "You won't have to worry about anything except running."

"Thanks, Tidus." The blonde whispered out of the corner of her mouth as soon as Mr. Tanaka blew his whistle. Sora and Roxas faced each other in the jump-off; the blond caught the ball expertly and dribbled around the other players. He shot the ball with ease and it swished cleanly through the basket. When the teams shifted sides Sora and Roxas stared at each other with narrow eyes. When he was close enough Roxas shouldered his brother so hard the brunet stumbled backwards to regain his balance.

"Sportsmanship, boys." Mr. Tanaka lectured. Sora rubbed his shoulder and jogged over to the other side of the court.

"This doesn't look good." Naminé muttered to no one in particular. Roxas somehow managed to get the ball again and he charged down the court, ready to score another basket. Sora leapt out of nowhere and tried to hold him off but it was not enough; his twin brother literally ran through him, knocking the brunet onto the polished wooden floor.

"Watch your feet, Roxas." Tidus hollered, and a few people snickered. After shooting another basket the blond turned around to glare at him. Sora rose back to his feet, rubbing the back of his head.

"Are you alright?" Naminé rushed to her friend's side, but Sora waved her off dismissively.

"Y-yeah, it's nothing. C'mon, we still have a lot of time before class ends. Get back on your side."

Most of the game comprised of Sora and Roxas trying to one-up each other; eventually everybody else ceased playing and watched them push, shove, trip and even kick their way to the basket. Mr. Tanaka tried stopping the game many times but the brothers were too involved in trying to beat each other to pay attention to anything else. Naminé's chest began to hurt again as she watched the both of them play out their frustration on the court and she kept glancing at the clock on the wall, hoping that class would end soon.

"It's not so bad," Sora chuckled after class; the second the bell rang his brother stormed out of the gym and disappeared. Naminé helped the poor brunet to the nurse's office because Roxas had knocked him around a little too hard. By the time they left ten minutes later his legs and arms were already starting to bruise, "That game wasn't any different from all the other games my brother and I play together."

"Are you serious? You two looked like you were about to rip each other apart!" Naminé gasped as they left the PA Wing together; her eyes scanned the surrounding area but Roxas was nowhere to be found.

The brunet shrugged. "It's always like that in everything we do. I'm kind of relieved that happened, to be honest with you - I got to see my brother acting like his old self," He smiled, but it looked like he was directing it towards himself, "Which means that we haven't totally lost him." He chuckled and raised his hands to place them behind his head, grimacing when he had to use his sore shoulder. "Plus, I finally beat him in something! That's probably why he looked so ticked off when class ended."

His words were touching, and Naminé could not help but smile herself. "I'm glad you're looking at it this way, Sora. I wish I was as optimistic as you."

Kairi was shocked to see Sora looking a little worse for wear when they met her by Naminé's locker, but once the brunet and blonde explained everything she looked relieved too.

"You know everything's sort of back to normal when Roxas and Sora are fighting," The redhead assured her cousin as the Maybach spun out of the roundabout, "It's just one of those everyday things. You should know that by now, Nami - both of them explained this to you at least once before."

The blonde frowned and tugged on her hair. "If everything really is sort of back to normal then he wouldn't be ignoring me."

Kairi sighed and moved to hug her cousin. "He's dumb for doing this to you, but you can't let it bother you so much. He'll come crawling back eventually, and he'll bawl about how he's been so stupid and how he made such a big mistake in leaving you. When that happens, kick him where it hurts the most and tell him that it's his fault for making such stupid decisions, and that if he wants you back he'll have to _earn_ it."

The image Kairi painted made the blonde giggle. "That doesn't sound like me at all."

Her redheaded cousin smirked. "Oh, it will be when it happens. Trust me - unless you want me to do it for you, then I'll be glad."

There was enough homework tonight to keep Naminé's mind occupied, and with the help of some music the evening passed by quicker than usual. Thursday morning rolled around sooner than she expected it to and she felt a little nervous walking into the SS Wing, wondering if Roxas had decided to show up again.

Thankfully he did not; there was one unoccupied desk in homeroom. No one accompanied her to Math, and there was no irritating whistling behind her as she bent over her trigonometry equations with Kairi. In some ways it felt sort of empty.

"Ugh, I'm so glad Math is over," Her redheaded cousin sighed in relief once the bell rang, "I'm starving."

Naminé was busy rifling through her bag. "Er, Kairi? Do you mind heading to lunch without me? I have to run to my locker to get my English book. I'll be there in a few minutes."

"You sure you don't want me to come with you?"

"I'm a big girl," The blonde smirked, "I can do it by myself."

Kairi giggled. "Oh, alright. I'll see you later, then."

The harsh wind was blowing a little harder now and Naminé stuffed her face into her scarf as she made her way towards the SS Wing. She scrambled up the stairs and rummaged through her locker to get what she needed. When she was finished she raced towards the entrance of the building.

"Yo, Naminé."

She was sure she heard that voice somewhere before…she turned around and gasped at the fiery redhead leaning against the stone wall. Axel was smirking at her, holding his blazer over one shoulder and flipping his shiny lighter with the other hand. A certain blond boy's face flashed in front of her eyes for a split second and she cringed.

"Huh, not happy to see me?" He lifted himself off the wall and made his way towards her. "I guess I can understand that, after what you've been through and everything."

She absently scuffed the floor with her shoe. "You make it sound as if it's your fault."

"Hm, you really like paying attention to detail, don't you?" Axel grinned impishly; he flicked his wrist and the lighter closed with a sharp snap. "No wonder he likes you so much."

"I think you mean _liked."_

The redhead shrugged. "I wouldn't be so sure of that."

"Please," Naminé's hand wandered to her chest and she gripped it subconsciously, "Don't bring my hopes up like that. It's enough that I never see him anymore."

"I wouldn't give you false hope," He replied nonchalantly, placing his hands behind his spiky head, "That's just mean. It's more of a...Larxene thing to do."

"Why are you here, anyway? Your other friends don't seem to be anywhere near."

Axel snickered. "Ouch." He flipped his lighter open again and pulled his thumb over the flint-wheel; a small spike of fire appeared instantly. "What's wrong with wanting to spend lunch with a friend?"

The blonde raised an eyebrow. "Are you referring to me?" The redhead nodded, and she flushed. "Um, is there any particular reason as to why you'd want to...er, spend lunch with me?"

"Like I said, I only wanna spend lunch with a friend," Axel extinguished the flame and pocketed his lighter, "But I can see why you're suspicious: a member of the notorious XIII who hardly goes to school is suddenly present for the sole reason of wanting to eat lunch with someone he barely knows…" He began to walk a slow circle around her, and she could not help but feel intimidated, "Hmm, sounds fishy to me."

"Are all of the members of The XIII this ambiguous? 'Cause I'm starting to see a trend." She narrowed her eyes at him, and he threw his head back to laugh.

"Ah, you're good. Maybe a little _too_ good." He pulled his blazer on and began to saunter towards the entrance. "Look, if you wanna come with, I'm heading to my truck. If you don't wanna, then I understand."

"What happens if I come with you?" She asked unsurely, eyeing the unreadable expression on his face.

He smirked again. "I'll tell you what happened that night."

_Damn it._ Naminé sighed and tugged on her hair. She hardly knew Axel, but his proposal was intriguing. What was she supposed to do now?

Her phone began to ring, and she felt Axel's eyes on her as she answered it. "Hello?"

"Honestly, how long does it take for you to get an English textbook out of your locker?"

"Erm," Naminé glanced upwards to see Axel's brilliant green eyes smirking at her, "I'm gonna have to skip lunch with you guys today. I'm actually talking to my English teacher right now - I'm asking him a few questions on some assignment we have to do for next week." She eyed Axel's broadening crooked grin, and she felt uneasy inside for some reason.

"Oh, alright. I'll see you after school then."

"Bye." She stuffed her phone into her bag and stepped towards the tall redhead, who was grinning down at her victoriously. "Happy now? I'm coming with you."

"Good, good," Axel chuckled as he opened the door for her, "I'll be sure to make every minute of your lunch break entertaining."

"You better be prepared to answer a few of my questions," Naminé grumbled as they stepped into the student parking lot, "I want to know _everything."_

He shrugged as he unlocked the driver's door to his truck. He stepped in and unlocked her door, and she clambered inside. "Sure, we'll cover whatever needs to be covered." The engine rumbled to life and loud, hard music blared from the stereo. It was so loud that it caused Naminé to jump in her seat in surprise. He gave her a sheepish grin and lowered the volume considerably before backing out of the parking lot.

"I hope you're craving ramen."

--

_A/N: The loud song that surprised Naminé in Axel's truck was Metallica's _Master of Puppets.


	14. The Pyromaniac And The Artist

_A/N: I'm treating y'all to an early update 'cause I'm leaving for vacation on Saturday morning and I'll be gone for nearly two weeks; I'm bringing my laptop, however, so I'll still be able to write - that is, if I have the time. If I have internet I'll probably be able to update, but I can't guarantee._

_I find the whole Naminé/Axel friendship thing adorable and very plausible so I wanted to incorporate that somehow._

--

**The Pyromaniac and The Artist.**

"Why can't we start this interrogation thing _now?"_ Naminé whined for the third time. Axel briefly tore his eyes off the road to glare at her.

"'Cause I can't think on an empty stomach," He retorted, "Geez, Roxas was right about you - you _are_ impatient."

"You talk about me?" The blonde gaped; Axel swore under his breath and slammed on the acceleration; the needle on the speedometer jolted upwards to the one-hundred area, and Naminé instinctively dug her nails into her seat.

"This conversation will officially start when we get there! Got it memorized?"

Axel was an erratic driver; he twisted the wheel at extreme angles, jerking the car left and right, and he was always over the speed limit by at least fifteen kilometeres. The angry music screaming from the stereo did not help either.

"You weren't driving like _that_ last Friday." Naminé commented dryly as she stepped out of the truck fifteen minutes later.

Axel kicked his door shut and smirked. "Because I had a reason to drive easy last week. Now I don't." He pushed the door to the ramen shop open, and Ken was there to greet them like last time.

"Hm, just you two today?" The older man asked in his deep, motor-like voice; once the two teenagers nodded he shrugged and made his way towards the back room. "Oh, alright then - I'll be back with your food."

Naminé sat down in the same seat she was in last week. "Okay, we're here. Can we start now?"

The redhead laughed and leaned back in his chair. He fished his lighter out of his pocket and began to play with it again. "Nope - not until the food comes."

The blonde rolled her eyes and rested her chin in her palm as Axel laughed again. She twiddled a single chopstick in between her fingers as her companion continued fiddling with his lighter. The ramen finally came, and as soon as the steaming bowl was placed in front of him Axel began to dig in. Naminé rolled her eyes a second time and reached for her other chopstick. _Boys._

"Okay, we're eating," She grumbled, "Can we start talking _now?"_

It was his turn to roll his eyes. "Alright, alright. Geez. Okay, so what do you wanna know?"

"Everything, obviously."

"Hmm, where should I start?" Axel set his chopsticks down and rubbed the back of his head. "Well, after dropping you off I went back to check up on him, like you wanted me to. A couple of our buddies were there to help him out, but like I said he was doing pretty well on his own - Rai and Fuu stand no chance against him so they were already out by the time I got there, and Seifer was already well on his way to joining them."

Naminé pulled at her hair. "Wow, it sounds like he can really put up a fight."

"He may be the youngest out of our little gang but he's definitely not the weakest," Axel then added 'Demyx actually is' under his breath before continuing, "He wiped the floor with all three of them without me or the others' help. We brought him back to headquarters afterwards to rest up and stuff, and he stayed there for a few days. After he recovered most of his strength he drove to your place, and the rest is history."

"Er, speaking of youngest...who's Xion?"

Axel's eyes widened for a split second, then his expression returned to normal and he resumed scarfing down his ramen. "Ah, so he's told you about her."

"N-no - well, sort of. I saw you guys…" Naminé mumbled, tugging harder on her hair, "A long time ago, on a Saturday. He told me she was just a childhood friend, but I dunno...I had a feeling he was leaving a few things out."

The redhead chuckled. "You don't trust him enough, do you?"

The blonde flushed. "No, i-it's nothing like that-"

"He was telling the truth, by the way. She's gone to elementary and middle school with him, and they've been nothing but friends," Axel smirked, "But you can tell she has a thing for him, just by the way she talks to him and everything." When he eyed his companion's downhearted expression he cringed. "Uh, but you shouldn't be discouraged. Roxas hasn't shown any sort of interest in her whatsoever."

She raised an eyebrow at him. "What's that supposed to mean? I already blew my chance with him, so he's all hers."

Axel sighed and ran his hand through his crimson spikes. "First of all, this isn't your fault - if you really want to point fingers you best point at Roxas 'cause he's the one who ditched you in the first place. Second, we wouldn't be talking right now if it weren't for him blabbering about you all the time. It's really starting to get on my nerves."

Naminé's eyes widened, and her blush returned. "Um...what kind of things does he say?"

"It's funny 'cause he tries his hardest _not_ to talk about you," Axel chuckled, "But I guess he tries so hard to exclude you in his everyday life that you just pop out when he least expects it. In a way it's kinda cute." He shuddered suddenly. "Ugh, I thought I'd never see the day when I'd actually use the word _cute _to describe anything related to Roxas..."

The blonde's eyes lowered to her soup. "I think about him almost everyday, even though I don't want to." A lump formed in her throat and she suddenly did not feel very hungry anymore. "Even when I say I'm getting over what happened, at the end of the day I end up thinking about it. I can't stop - I don't even know if I can."

The redhead leaned forward and rested his chin in his hand, intrigued. "So he means a lot to you, eh?" He swirled the noodles around in his bowl with his chopsticks. "Roxas is like a little brother to me - because of what happened that Friday he hasn't exactly been himself, and it's kinda worrying me."

"Is that why you wanted to talk to me?"

He nodded. "Yeah, sorta." He stuffed another wad of noodles into his mouth; after swallowing he continued. "He's been distant lately, and when he actually takes the time and effort to talk to me he always sounds like he's daydreaming - and of course it always has to be about you." He straightened his back and began to speak in a high-pitched voice; his tone was very sarcastic. _"Naminé this, Naminé that - hey Axel, do you think Naminé would like this song? Oh, look Axel - it's whatever o'clock; what do you think Naminé's doing now? Say, Axel, doesn't that girl look like Naminé to you? Yeah...Naminé's _way_ prettier."_ He burst out in laughter and clapped his forehead. "He's more lovesick than a hormone-driven teenage girl."

His words caused her cheeks to flare up again. "But I thought you said he's _trying_ not to talk about me. The way you're putting it...it sounds like he's not trying at all."

"Believe me, he _is_ trying," Axel smirked, "But like I said, he's trying too hard."

She sighed and tugged on her hair. "What am I supposed to do?"

"Beats me," He shrugged and she huffed in frustration, "But if you come up with something give me a shout; I want in on your plan. Roxas ain't special to just you, you know," He stuck his tongue out playfully, "I had him first."

Naminé giggled and shook her head. "No wonder there were rumours about you and-"

Axel's face reddened and he groaned. "People really take everything literally these days, don't they? Ugh, me and Roxas...no thanks." He shivered in disgust. "He's not my type, anyway. Too moody."

The blonde giggled again, covering her small mouth with the back of her hand. "Sure, Axel. Whatever you say."

The redhead rolled his startlingly green eyes. "That was another joke!"

It seemed very plausible that the twosome were going to be good friends, for they already found one thing they had in common: their strong connection to Roxas. They continued talking for another fifteen minutes or so, exchanging their experiences with him, but since Axel had known him longer he was doing most of the talking.

"When we met he was only a shrimp," Axel smirked as they made their way back to his truck, "He was ten, I was twelve - he was in the middle of a fight on some street corner. I was walking home from school when I saw it happen; it was just him against at least what - four, five other kids? It was crazy."

"Fist fights seem very common in your everyday lives." Naminé remarked sardonically as she stepped into the truck.

The redhead grinned and turned the key into the ignition. "All in a day's work, my friend. Anyway, Roxas seemed like he could handle the whole thing on his own in the beginning, but eventually he tired out and the tables turned on him. I stepped in, and we've been best friends ever since."

The blonde snorted. "At least you didn't collide into him while running backwards, twisting your ankle in the process."

"Ah, he told me about that!" Axel chortled and she blushed, "Talk about falling in-"

"Don't you _dare,"_ She hissed; he gaped at her, surprised, and then shook it off and chuckled. She exhaled slowly before continuing, "Ugh, you think like my cousin."

"Great minds think alike," He grinned again, "But seriously, Naminé, the main reason why I wanted to talk to you - besides the fact that Roxas has been ticking me off with his constant blabbering about you, of course - is because I know you've been having a rough time trying to deal with what happened, and I just want you to know that you shouldn't give up hope yet. I kinda don't want you to."

She blinked at him. "That was the most profound thing I've heard you say today."

He rolled his eyes. "You better brace yourself, then, 'cause there's more. I know you mean something to him - it's gotta be something if he still can't stop talking about you - so you should chin up. He probably needs space to sort his head out."

Naminé sighed and threw herself back against the worn leather seat. "So you're saying I'm going to have to _wait_ for him?" _Again?_

Axel nodded and scratched the back of his head. "I'm afraid so, yeah. Don't worry - you're not the only one who's had to endure Roxas' stupidity." He turned into Brighton's student parking lot and moved into the closest empty space. "I admit that what he did on Friday was noble but what he said to you on Monday was idiotic. Nobody gained anything from that." He opened the door for her, and she thanked him as she stepped out.

"He said he was no good for me," Naminé murmured, her eyes cast to the floor, "And that if we continued with what we had, it would only end badly."

The redhead rolled his eyes. "How ungentlemanly of him - remind me to kick his ass later." He pulled a pack of cigarettes out of the inside pocket of his blazer and jutted his chin out towards the Arts Wing. "Don't you have an English class to head to?"

The blonde checked her phone and realized she only had a few minutes before class started. Panicking, she whirled around on her heels and began jogging towards the building. "Er, thanks for lunch!" She hollered over her shoulder, "I'll try and come up with something soon!"

Axel laughed and waved once. "I'll be waiting."

She managed to make it in time; Sora and Hayner eyed her questionably as she sat in the desk between them.

"I thought you were talking to our teacher." Hayner raised en eyebrow; Naminé hid her abashed expression by bending over to pull her books out of her bag.

"Erm, our meeting was in another room." She said as she sat back up; Sora and Hayner did not look convinced, but they shrugged it off. She sighed and thunked her head on her desk as soon as the teacher walked in to begin class; she really was a horrible liar.

Gym tired her out, and by the time school ended Naminé was not sure if she had enough energy left for today's driving lesson. Kairi tried to motivate her on the way home, which was not necessarily a good thing.

"Your jokes aren't that funny, you know," The blonde rolled her eyes as her cousin shook with laughter, "Actually, they're not funny at all."

"To you, maybe." Kairi replied as soon as she got a hold of herself.

"Your sense of humour is almost as bad as Sora's now." Naminé shook her head as they made their way upstairs. She opened the door to her room and Kairi followed her inside.

"Well, I _am_ going out with him." The redhead flopped on her cousin's bed and tucked her hair behind her ears. "So is Riku coming 'round the same time as Tuesday?"

"I think so, yeah."

"Where did you go when you were '_talking to your English teacher'_?" Kairi's words stunned the blonde, and she whipped around to gape at her.

"How did you-"

"I'm not dumb, Nami, and like I've mentioned a thousand times before you're not the greatest liar." She pulled her cousin towards her, forcing her to sit beside her. "Well, out with it! What _really_ happened?"

Naminé sighed and nervously tugged on her hair. "Er, I met Axel on my way to meet you guys, and he kind of coaxed me into going out for lunch."

Kairi's eyes widened. _"What?!_ You and Axel? That's-"

The blonde flushed and shook her head furiously. "No, no! It's not what it looks like - he wanted to talk to me about...about _him."_

The redhead's shoulders dropped in relief, and she exhaled slowly. "Oh, okay. What did he say?"

"He said that Rox-_he_ hasn't been acting like himself lately," The lump in her throat was forming again, and her voice was gradually getting softer, "And that he talks about me to the point where it gets annoying." She remembered Axel's mocking imitation of his best friend and she could not help but smile to herself.

"That must mean he still likes you," Kairi sighed as she fell backwards against the bed, "But I don't get it - if he still has feelings for you why did he say all those things?"

"I told you - he didn't think he was right for me. He's in a gang, Kairi; he does bad things. Did you know that he specializes in breaking and entering?" Naminé bit her bottom lip and pulled harder on her hair. "He doesn't want me to end up in Olette's situation, where she was practically neglected most of the time."

"But things were different with you, weren't they? It was easy to see that the both of you had something," Her cousin frowned, "You instantly clicked and everything…" She rolled over and grabbed a nearby pillow. "I don't even think Sora knows about the breaking and entering thing. Did Axel tell you about that?"

"No, Riku did." Naminé sighed and leaned backwards to lie down beside Kairi. "I want to believe Axel so badly, but at the same time I don't know if I should…" She groaned and pressed her hands to her face, "I don't want to be let down again."

The redhead enveloped her cousin in a comforting hug. "Try not to think about it so much, Nami. You've been getting better the past few days; don't let this pull you back down. Like I said, let him crawl back to you."

"But why does it feel like it's my fault that we're not talking anymore?" The blonde murmured into her cousin's shoulder, "I shouldn't have agreed to go out with him on Friday-"

"Don't say that - before Seifer came and ruined everything you had a great time, didn't you? Roxas needs to set his priorities straight; you're more important than a stupid gang," Kairi pushed away from Naminé to smile at her, "And once he gets that through his thick head he'll come back to you."

"But how do I make him realize that?" The blonde sniffled, and Kairi pulled her in for another hug. "I can't even get him to look at me anymore."

"Maybe Axel can help you out." Before the redhead could elaborate Naminé's phone began to vibrate. "Ooh, Riku's here."

"Hm, that was quick." Naminé reached for her phone and held it up to her ear. "Hey Riku. Are you here already?"

"Sure am," She heard the grin in his tone, "I'll be waiting."

"Okay, I'll be out in a bit." She sat up and flattened her hair with her hands. "He's already here."

Kairi raised her eyebrows and the blonde rolled her eyes; she knew that look all too well. "Mm, somebody's eager."

"We had this discussion already, Kairi."

The redhead giggled and pushed her cousin out of the room. "I'm just joking around. Hurry up, you've got some backing up to do!"

"Ha-ha." Naminé sighed and made her way down the stairs. When she opened the double doors she was greeted with a blast of cool air; she had forgotten to grab her jacket.

"Gotta hate the cold weather," Riku smirked as he shrugged out of his school blazer; he casually tossed it over to her, and she flushed as she pulled her arms through the sleeves, "I'm more of a summer person."

The sleeves were too long and they practically devoured her small hands; it reminded her of Roxas and she forced the lump down her throat. "S-spring for me." She managed to put on a smile as she crawled into the driver's seat.

"You look like a spring person." Riku commented, and she blushed again. He gestured towards the ignition. "Are you ready for some parking?"

Nervousness tickled her insides, and she grimaced. "Not really."

He chuckled. "That's the spirit. Let's head to Common Ground first - you look like you need something warm to drink."

He was right; her teeth were chattering, and she could not feel her ears. "Erm, okay." She shifted the gear into drive and curved out of the roundabout. Her eyes widened at how she managed to do it without making a single mistake. "Wow, did I do that?"

"You're a natural, Naminé," Riku laughed and pointed to the dashboard, "Remember to signal."

Once they reached the parking lot of the plaza Naminé's hands were beginning to feel clammy. She eyed the closest available parking space and gulped. "Er, so what now?"

"Just drive into it," Riku instructed, "That's the easiest parking method, but the bad thing about it is the reversing part when you want to get out. We'll worry about that later, though. Now, just turn slowly into the parking space - by now you should be used to the feel of the car, so it shouldn't be hard for you to guess when you're in far enough."

She drove in like he told her to, and she switched the gear into park. She grinned triumphantly. "All done."

He laughed and leaned over to ruffle her hair. "I knew you could do it." They stepped out of the car and made their way towards Common Ground. They sat at the usual booth and Riku left briefly to order his coffee and some hot chocolate for Naminé.

"So, what's up?" He asked when he came back; she gratefully took her steaming mug of hot chocolate and sipped it. The hot liquid pouring down her throat was a relieving feeling, and she sighed in content.

"Nothing, really," She tugged on her hair, unsure of what to say, "Well, actually...the weirdest thing happened today. I had lunch with Axel."

Like she expected, Riku's turquoise eyes widened in surprise. "What? I told you not to get involved with any more of them, Naminé-"

"I know, I know, but Axel really isn't that bad - I hung out with him once before." When Riku's expression did not change, she sighed. "We didn't do anything, if that's what you're wondering about. He wanted to talk to me about you-know-who."

"I wasn't wondering about that, but it was a pretty good guess." Riku leaned back in his seat and placed his hands behind his head. "Axel's one of the more notorious members of The XIII, so I was kinda worried when you told me you hung out with him."

The blonde raised an eyebrow. "Notorious? Why?"

"The guy's a pyromaniac," He sipped his coffee before continuing, "If there's an arson report the authorities automatically turn to him. His first reported act was when he was only eleven years old!"

That explained the Zippo lighter, at least. "He doesn't seem so bad to me."

"You attract the strangest people, Naminé," Riku sighed and her cheeks coloured in response, "Why did he want to talk to you about, er, you-know-who?"

"Well, he told me that _he_ hasn't been acting like himself lately, and he's been talking about me a lot." She sighed and picked up her mug of hot chocolate. "I don't know if I should believe Axel or not."

"You can never really trust a gang member, Naminé," Riku shook his head, "I'm telling you - just forget him. It'll be easier for you."

"Believe me, I've been trying to forget him for the past two months, but nothing's working." The blonde's eyes narrowed a little in aggravation, "No matter how hard I try I'm not going to forget about what happened, Riku. I can't forget him…I don't want to."

He swept his silvery bangs out of his eyes and leaned forward, his expression apologetic and frustrated at the same time. "Sorry, but seeing you like this isn't exactly uplifting. The past few days you seemed to be getting over it, but now it seems like you're relapsing."

"I think I am," Naminé frowned as the lump in her throat returned, "Because of what happened today. What Axel said made me hopeful, but at the same time...I don't even know anymore. I'm so confused." She groaned and thunked her head against the table. "My head hurts from all this thinking."

Riku's rough hands were on top of hers, and she looked up to glance at him. He was grinning sheepishly, and she flushed. "As much as I'd love for him to fall into a ditch (Naminé glared at him momentarily) and for you to move on with your life, I know that whatever you had with him means a lot to you and I have to acknowledge that. If he's really that important to you, he'll find his way back to you somehow. If he doesn't, then he wasn't worth it in the first place."

Her eyes lowered to their hands. "But I hate doing all this waiting."

He laughed. "Life's all about being forced into things we'd rather not be doing." He realized that his hands were still on top of hers and he immediately drew away, his cheeks the faintest tinge of pink. He awkwardly coughed into his fist and slowly made his way out of the booth. "Erm, are you finished with your drink? I still have to teach you some stuff."

Naminé's head cocked to the side, confused at his odd behaviour, but she shrugged it off and finished the rest of her hot chocolate. She followed him out of Common Ground and crawled back into the driver's seat. He taught her how to reverse out of a parking space, and she actually managed to do it without bumping into the neighbouring cars. Soon afterward they drove around a little more until they found a vacant enough parking lot to practice reverse and parallel parking, which she aced no problem.

"Y'know, you probably don't even need lessons," Riku laughed as Naminé switched lanes, "You didn't make one single mistake today!"

"This isn't right," The blonde mumbled as she turned into the Hinomoto manor, "This isn't even possible. I _never_ do things perfectly the first time around."

He chuckled as she parked by the curb. "Maybe your awesome driving will get Kairi into practicing too." They both stepped out of the car and met at the front; Naminé handed him his blazer and he swept it over his shoulders in one swift movement. He hesitated for a moment, as if he was unsure of what to say next. "Er, Naminé…" His eyes drifted upwards and he placed one hand behind his head.

The blonde raised a skeptical eyebrow and cocked her head to the side. "Something the matter, Riku?"

He laughed and shook his head. "Nah, it's nothing. I guess I'll see you next Tuesday?"

Naminé's eyebrow was still raised, but she decided to play along for now. "Yeah, unless we hang out beforehand. Last weekend was fun; we should do that again."

He smirked. "Yeah, maybe you should tell Kairi." He opened the door to the driver's seat and waved once. "Call me if anything's up."

"Of course." She watched the indigo-coloured car speed away before retreating back inside the mansion. She tiptoed past Kairi's room so that she would not have to be forced into listening to her cousin's stupid car sex jokes, and when she managed to sneak through successfully she sighed in relief as she closed the door behind her.

Friday rolled along faster than she thought it was going to; school zipped by without her even noticing and by the time she came to her senses she was already back home, sitting in her bed. Boredom struck her dumb; Kairi was out with Sora and Riku had something with his Somerset friends so she had no one close enough to bother. She briefly contemplated on calling Olette and the other two but she decided against it in the end. Naminé even tried to paint to rid herself of the boredom that was threatening to swallow her whole, but she could not find the inspiration to make anything worthwhile.

Sighing, she wandered out of her studio and over to her desk, and then to her bookcase. With one look at the unread books she remembered her desire to read them, and she plucked a random one out of the shelves and bounced on her bed, eager to actually do something. The book was very interesting with a plot that kept her lingering onto the pages, but unfortunately it was quite short; she finished it nearly an hour later.

She realized that it was the first of a series, however, and she bounded back to her bookcase to grab the second book. Her face fell when she found out that she had no second book. She tugged on her curl of hair as she scrutinized the other books on the shelves, but the only thing she really wanted to read right now was that second book.

"Hm…" She sat in front of her computer and searched up the closest bookstore, groaning when she found out that she had to go all the way to Deyton to find it. An idea concocted in her head, and she hastily scribbled down the address. She then searched up bussing directions to Deyton and wrote that down as well. She grabbed her peacoat, her phone and her wallet and rushed out of the manor. She plugged a pair of silver earbuds into her phone and booted up its music player; a mellow song with a tinkling piano riff began to play.

Of course the gated community was in no need of public transportation, so she had to walk a little to reach the bus stop. She missed taking the bus; it seemed like such a normal, middle-class thing to do. She sighed and pulled on her hair, leaning against the post of the bus stop sign. She wondered how her parents were doing, and how different things would have been if she never transferred. Maybe she would have finally found her place; maybe the kids at school had somehow grown up over the summer and were easier to relate to. Maybe she would have found someone that did not enjoy making her wait…

She chuckled to herself as she boarded the bus, dropping her change into the fare deposit and moving to sit at an empty seat near the back; she was being too pessimistic. She had a great life here, with good friends and a nice school - how could she complain?

When a certain blond-haired boy's face popped into her head, she grimaced and pressed her cheek against the window.

She had to take two busses to get to the subway, and from there it was around five or six stops until she reached her destination. All in all the ride downtown took at least an hour and ten minutes, which was not so bad. It was Friday, anyway, so she had loads of time to waste. When she emerged from the subway she found herself in a commercial district of the city; there were many stores lining the sidewalks, and a lot of kids clumped together in groups were mottled all over the place. She reached for her hair as she made her way past the crowd, feeling a little lonely; maybe she should have asked Olette to come…

As she passed the shops something colourful caught her eye; Naminé paused and shuffled to the side a little so she would not run into anybody, and turned her head towards the narrow alleyway in front of her. It was stupid to wander into a city alleyway but she could not help it; the back wall was completely covered in layers of spray paint. Someone had sprayed intricate patterns, images and shapes onto the tall brick wall; Naminé wondered how it was possible to achieve such precise detail with simple spray cans. At the bottom right corner of the mural was a hastily sprayed-on 'VIII' instead of a signature.

The Roman numerals caused Naminé to raise an eyebrow; did that mean that a member of the XIII was behind all of this? She frowned as she left the alleyway to continue her search for the bookstore, wondering who it might have been. It was hard to take an educated guess since she only knew five of the thirteen (or was it fourteen now?) members, and she only _really_ knew two of them...sort of.

The bookstore was not very far from the alleyway; it was small and full of interesting books to read. Naminé found what she was looking for, but to be safe she also bought the third, fourth and fifth books so she would not have to make another trip in the near future. After making her purchase she made her way back into the chilly outdoors. She decided to grab something to eat before heading back to the McMansions and shiny gates so she wandered around the district for awhile, looking for something that would please her appetite, but nothing appealed to her.

As she passed a few more shops she spotted a glint of bright red from somewhere in between a couple of the buildings; she stepped back and turned her head towards the alleyway, raising an eyebrow.

Did she just see who she thought she saw?

Realizing that she was being incredibly stupid, she forced the lump down her throat and walked slowly into the alleyway, her heart pumping furiously and her fingertips tingling. She was wide-open for attack and she was aware of that, but her curiosity was burning brighter than her fear at the moment, and it was the only thing that propelled her forward.

When she reached the alleyway she noticed that the back wall was also covered in spray paint, but it looked half-finished; there were rough outlines of patterns and shapes everywhere and the concrete floor was covered with numerous spray cans. Naminé tilted her head upwards and awed at the artwork; it was amazing to look at even when it was not finished yet.

"You know it's not safe to wander in downtown alleyways, right?"

She whipped around to face the source of the voice, and her eyes widened when she spotted the familiar pyromaniac standing a few feet away from her. His hands were splotchy with different colours of spray paint, and he had a green bandanna tied around his neck.

_"You _did all this?" She gaped incredulously; Axel smirked grimly and moved to lean against a part of the wall that was not covered in spray paint.

"I don't know whether your expression makes me feel flattered or insulted." Her cheeks darkened and he laughed. "You caught me red-handed, Naminé - or should I say, er, multi-coloured..handed?" He shook his head. "Ugh, that was terrible."

"I meant that as a compliment," The blonde smiled sheepishly, running her fingers along the partially-finished mural, "Did you do another one like this somewhere close by?"

Axel grinned and crossed his arms; she noticed that he was not wearing a jacket, only a black sleeveless shirt. It was _freezing_ - how was he not shivering, or at least complaining about how cold it was? "Yep, that's all me. Glad you like it - always great to know somebody who appreciates art."

She flushed and stared at her sneakers. "I never thought you'd be the type to be into art." Her hand moved to her hair. "So...you're number VIII?"

He nodded and bent over to pick up a spray can. He approached the wall and analyzed the pattern before him, and then pressed down on the spray can; bright blue paint hissed out of the nozzle and splattered against the brick wall, colouring in the outline. He chuckled as he pulled his bandanna over his mouth. "Very observant." His voice was slightly muffled behind the paint-stained cloth, "So what brings you here on such a fine Friday afternoon?"

"I was grabbing a few books someplace nearby," She explained; she moved to sit on the floor and rested her back against the brick wall, "Kairi, Sora and Riku are busy today so I can't bother them, and I'm not exactly close with Olette, Pence and Hayner so I thought it would be weird if I randomly asked to hang out with them. What about you - why aren't you breaking the law with your friends, or something?"

He rolled his sharp green eyes at the comment but continued spraying. "I need some me time too, you know. I'm _always_ with them - they're like the annoying siblings that you just want to get away from, but at the same time you know you'd take a bullet for them no matter what."

Naminé fumbled with her fingers. "All of you seem really close."

Axel dropped his blue spray can and picked up a silvery one. "We're a pretty tight bunch in comparison to the other groups around the city, probably because there's so little of us. We all kinda have one thing in common, so I guess that serves as the core of our relationship."

The blonde's head slowly craned upwards to stare at her friend. "Um...do you mind telling me what that reason is? Or is it too personal - 'cause if it is, I understand-"

"We're all looking for something," Axel interjected, but his voice was calm, "All thirteen - soon to be fourteen - of us feel like we don't fit in with the lives we have right now, like we were meant for something else. Maybe it was a mistake that we're even existing in the first place." He laughed bitterly and shook his fiery head. "We're kind of like defected puzzle pieces: we came with the package but we're not wanted, and we don't fit with the other pieces."

"Don't say that," She watched him continue with his artwork; he was colouring in a strange symbol that looked somewhat like a cross and a heart put together. "You have the right to exist - all of you do."

The redhead laughed in that same bitter tone as he dropped the can to sit beside her. He was warm; she could feel his body heat on her arm even with a thick wool coat on. "That's what I'd like to think," He replied as he pulled his bandana down, "But wishing and thinking can only get you so far."

Naminé frowned and tugged on her hair, trying to put her words into a different context. "Well, what makes you think _you're_ a mistake?"

"When you've got a deadbeat for a dad and a missing mom, chances are you're going to contemplate how you ended up here in the first place," Axel smirked ruefully, "And then you've got the high-hat uncle who's insisting on 'taking you under his wing' in a pathetic attempt at turning your life around, when really all he's doing is paying tuition for a school you hardly care about." He scoffed and spat angrily on the floor beside him. "He's too absorbed in whatever he does for a living to notice anything."

Guilt bubbled inside of the blonde and she pulled harder on her hair. "I...I don't know what to say to that," She admitted, her cheeks reddening, "I mean, I can try and look for a way to cheer you up, but it's not going to help your situation."

He chuckled and reached to tousle her hair, and he laughed some more as she moaned in protest. "I'll give you credit for admitting the truth. I can kind of see why he's so into you now."

A stabbing pain made itself present in the pit of Naminé's chest at the mention of their astray friend, but she ignored it and turned to face him. "W-what do you mean?"

"You have a certain charm," Axel explained, rubbing the back of his head, "I dunno, there's just something about you that makes you likeable. I mean, it can work on many levels - for instance I'm probably feeling something completely different than _he_ is - but in general you're a very likeable person."

The blonde sighed and wrapped her arms around herself. "So...do you really think he still, er, f-feels...y'know…" Her face felt warm again and her eyes were beginning to sting, but she fought to keep the tears in.

"I wouldn't lie to you," He replied seriously, "Lying to people is something I'm strongly against, especially if it's to a friend. Betraying a friend like that is one of the lowest lows you can ever sink to. I guess it's because the only 'family' I've really had was The XIII, and growing up with them taught me to respect your friends."

She felt her cheeks heat up even more. "You think of me as a friend?"

He looked at her as if she just grew a second head. "Why wouldn't I think of you as one? We're talking like we're friends, aren't we?" He smirked and stood up; he held out a hand and she took it reluctantly, letting him pull her to her feet. "I better get you home; you must be freezing."

She skeptically eyed his attire. "Not as much as you probably are."

He threw his head back and laughed. "You kidding me? I'm great!" He pushed her forward by placing his hand on the small of her back, leading her out of the alleyway. He guided her down the sidewalk and into another alleyway, but it opened up into a small parking lot. Naminé eyed the familiar truck sitting in the corner, and she walked with him towards it. "Jackets are for the weak." He simpered as he opened the door for her.

She could not help but smile as she eased herself into the worn leather seat; maybe befriending a pyromaniac would not be as bad as Riku said it would be.

_--_

_A/N: For the AkuRoku jokes, I'm not anti-yaoi (love is love!) but het couples need some love too, you know!_

_The mellow piano-ish song Naminé was listening to on her way out was _Boston _by Augustana._


	15. This Isn't Helping

_A/N: I'm still on vacation but since I've got internet here and I'm feeling a little generous, here's an update =)_

--

**This Isn't Helping.**

As the weeks flew by the weather grew considerably colder; November did not provide them with snow, much to Sora's disappointment, and he kept hoping that there would be a snow day soon so they would have a reason to skip school for the day.

It was the Monday of the second week of December and Naminé was eager for this week to end because that meant that she would be coming home for the holidays. She woke up that morning with a sharp glare in her eyes; she groaned and shielded her vision with her hand as she crawled out of bed.

"NAMI?" Kairi's voice hollered from the other side of her closed door; she sounded a little frantic. Worried, the blonde hastily tried to clamber out of bed but she tripped over the sheets and hurtled towards the floor. Cursing her inevitable clumsiness, she jogged over to her door and opened it; in a flash of red Kairi launched herself right into her cousin's arms. "You're awake!"

"Er, what's wrong?" Naminé pulled away from her cousin to stare at her face with a raised eyebrow.

"Nothing - everything's great, actually." The redhead grinned and pulled her over to the window. She pulled the curtains apart and gestured outside. "Look!"

The property surrounding the Hinomoto manor was blanketed in a bright, thick-looking layer of fresh fallen snow. Tiny white puffs were dropping gracefully from a light grey sky. As much as Naminé hated winter she had to admit that the sight was quite pretty.

"Wow, Sora finally got his wish."

"Yep," Kairi grinned, "Dad told me that school's canceled for the day 'cause the plows haven't cleared the streets yet, or something like that. This is probably the only reason why I like winter - snow days!"

Amused by her cousin's excitable behaviour, Naminé laughed. "Well, if we're not having any school today I'm gonna go back to bed." She stifled a yawn by pressing the back of her hand against her mouth. "G'night."

Her redheaded cousin rolled her eyes. "Lazy bum." She playfully pushed the blonde back into bed and pressed a pillow to her face. "Fine, go sleep then. I'll just go have fun in the snow by myself."

Naminé shoved Kairi off of her bed and pulled the white covers over her small body. "Your attempt at sending me into a guilt trip isn't working. Why don't you ask Sora to play with you? Geez, I thought you said you hated wintertime."

Kairi looked like she had stars in her eyes. "I do, but there's not even a week left of school and Christmas is coming up! I can't _not_ be excited for that! Spending it with you makes it even better - I don't even remember the last time we had Christmas together..."

The blonde could not help but grin at her cousin; after some pestering Kairi had managed to obtain permission from her parents to go with her to Twilight Town for the holidays. Naminé's eyes drifted towards the window and she reached for her hair, smirking at an old memory. "We were eight; you had too many candy canes and you threw up all over our cousin."

The redhead's eyes lit up with recognition and she burst into laughter. "Oh yeah!" She scratched her head. "Cloud never forgave me for that; I don't think he ever got over it."

"Ah, he was always the moody one in the family anyways," Naminé yawned and nestled against the soft mattress, sighing as she rolled her head onto the down pillow, "Anyway, I have some beauty sleep I'd like to catch up on, so if you'll excuse me-"

"Beauty sleep? You don't need any of that," Her cousin snickered, and the blonde's eyes popped open in response, "You've got enough boys chasing after you!" She managed to dash out of the room before getting hit by one of Naminé's incoming pillows.

Sometimes she did not know whether Kairi was being serious or not, but then again she could not really blame her; the past few weeks have been spent mostly with Riku and Axel.

Driving lessons twice a week with Riku kept her occupied, and it also helped strengthen their relationship. She was very comfortable with him now but recently she noticed that he had been acting a little strange around her. Sometimes he would drift off into space in the middle of a conversation, and whenever she asked what was wrong he would shrug it off and say it was not a big deal. She mentioned this once or twice to Kairi and the redhead always gave her the same answer:

_"Obviously he's got a bit of a crush on you," _She distinctly remembered Kairi's words the last time she told her about it, _"So why don't you just give him a chance?"_

Naminé never answered that question, simply because she knew that if she answered it honestly Kairi would have bashed her over the head until she received a concussion. Besides, she already spent enough time with Riku to sort out her feelings for him; if she felt anything for him that was more than friendship, would she have not felt it a long time ago? Certainly by now her feelings would have escalated.

At least her friendship with Axel was something Kairi could not poke fun at; he was far too intimidating (at least upfront) to make jokes about. The laid-back pyromaniac often invited the blonde out on the weekend to the city, where they would cruise around and find blank walls to work on. He taught her how to use spray cans and how to make graffiti letters. In return, she showed him how to paint; she often brought her brushes and paints so they could experiment on the walls. Besides their common interest in the arts they often talked about their personal problems - usually it was about Axel and his issues with his family, and her still struggling on trying to get over you-know-who. In time she learned to love him as a sort of older brother, and by the way he mussed her hair every time they saw each other and the way he would poke her sides just to get her attention she assumed he saw her as a little sister.

All in all she was progressing well after what happened during the second week of school, but the painful memories lingered at the back of her mind and oftentimes, especially at night, she ended up thinking about him. She thought that spending time away from him would decrease the need to see him, but it only intensified it. She hid it from everybody, especially Kairi and Riku; the only people she could confide in about it were Sora and Axel, since they were the only ones who seemed to understand what she was going through. Every time her mind came across memories of him her fingertips would tingle and her heart would pulse sporadically, and she hated it but at the same time she thrived in it. She enthralled in the feeling because it reminded her of happier times, but that was the same reason why she detested it too.

Sighing, Naminé rolled over on her stomach and pressed her face into her pillow. She mentally blocked off her conflicting thoughts and eventually fell back asleep. Her dreamless slumber carried on for the entire morning; when she woke up it was nearly one in the afternoon. Feeling sluggish from sleeping for so long, she dragged herself out of bed and made her way towards the bathroom, assuming that a cold shower would wake her up a bit more. As soon as the icy water hit her pale skin she arched her back and shrieked - okay, maybe that was a little _too_ cold…

The moment she emerged from the bathroom her phone began to ring. When she eyed her cousin's name in the call display she raised an eyebrow; she pressed her thumb over the button to answer it. "Er, Kairi?"

"Hey, sleepyhead!" It was a little hard to hear her; the wind was blowing in the background and she could hear people laughing.

"Where are you?"

"Park," Kairi paused for a minute to yell something at Sora, "Come! We're having a snowball fight."

"Snowball fight?" That involved excess movement...

"Yes, and you're totally missing out. We're all here - Pence, Olette, Hayner, Tidus, Wakka - Riku's here too." Her voice sounded more sly when she mentioned Riku's name, and the blonde rolled her eyes.

"Okay, okay, I'm coming, geez." She hung up and grabbed her grey peacoat, white scarf and white mittens. She did not wear a toque because she hated how the static made her hair more erratic than it already was, so instead she pulled on a pair of white earmuffs.

The park was not very far, but with the thick snow the walk was a little longer than usual. Sora's wails of protest and Kairi's laughter could be heard clearly as Naminé made her way towards the park, and she suppressed a smile when she caught sight of Hayner and Tidus chucking snowballs at a shrieking Olette. Pence, who was building a snowman, noticed her first and he waved.

"Hey, Naminé's here!" Everybody's heads turned towards the blonde approaching them, and they all greeted her. She smiled and waved back.

"What the heck were you doing? Hibernating?" Kairi shook her head and Naminé blushed. "We were waiting for you!"

"Sorry," The blonde mumbled, tugging on her hair, "I was really tired - I was in Deyton yesterday and-"

"Hanging out with Axel _again?"_ Riku had just approached them and he was patting a firm snowball in his gloved hands. "Just what kinds of things do you do with him, Naminé?"

The wording of that sentence made her cheeks go even redder. "W-we're just painting stuff! Art! It's called hanging out - something that _friends_ do!" When Riku and Kairi laughed the blonde huffed in frustration; a small puff of air emerged from her mouth and it disappeared in a matter of seconds. "I hate you guys."

"C'mon," Riku took her by the hand and pulled her over to a steady-looking snow fort; behind it Wakka was busy rolling snowballs. "You can help us make snowballs."

Naminé noticed that Sora, Hayner, Olette and Tidus also had a snow fort a little farther away. She gulped as she dropped to her knees. "You know I can't throw anything very far - coordinately challenged, remember?"

"So what? It'll be fun watching you struggle." Kairi grinned, and her cousin rolled her eyes.

"I'm glad you see me as a form of entertainment rather than a human being." She mashed together some snow in her mittens and ended up with a rather lumpy looking snowball; she miserably turned her head towards the others, who were rolling perfectly rounded ones. "Ugh, I can't even make a proper snowball."

"It doesn't matter," Wakka laughed as he added some more snowballs to his pile, "It'll all end up as mush on someone's face anyway!"

The snowball fight commenced soon afterward; Naminé spent most of it hiding behind the snow fort so she really could not see what was going on. When everyone ran out of snowballs she poked her head from the top of the fort to see that the other side had been completely pelted with snow; she turned around and saw with amusement that her comrades did not look so different.

"Get the coward!" Sora bellowed from the other side; the blonde whipped around to raise an eyebrow at him, but then she felt herself being lifted off the ground. Riku had hoisted her over his shoulder, and he was bringing her out towards the opening in between the two forts. Around her she could hear her friends laughing.

"Lemme go!" She screamed, kicking childishly at his stomach. She balled her hands into fists and attempted to punch his back, but it was no use.

"As you wish." She heard the smirk in Riku's voice, and he dropped her onto the snow. The minute she was back on the ground dozens of snowballs were sent soaring in her direction; by the time they were finished she looked like a mound of snow.

"That was great," Kairi laughed as she helped Naminé up; the blonde was grumbling to herself as she brushed the snow off her jacket, "You're not such a party pooper after all, Nami."

"Why did I have the feeling you guys were going to team up on me?" She asked miserably.

"Because we all knew you were going to wuss out during the fight." Riku grinned, and she sighed.

"I say we all warm up at Common Ground." Hayner suggested, and everyone cheered in response. They shook off the last of the snow and dispersed into Riku, Sora and Olette's cars. Riku made sure to crank the heat up; Naminé felt the blood defrosting in her ears as she settled into the passenger's seat.

"So are you ready?" He asked as he twisted the key into the ignition. She cocked her head to the side, trying to figure out what he was referring to. When she finally got it, her eyes widened and her mouth formed a perfect 'o'.

"Er, I think so." She smiled sheepishly, pulling off her mittens to tug on her hair. After weeks of practicing with Riku she finally booked her driving test; it was to happen on the day before Christmas Eve, which was next Thursday.

"I'm pretty sure you'll pass," Tidus piped up from behind, "Lessons from Riku guarantee you a license!"

"That's right," Riku smirked as he turned into the parking lot of the plaza, "And you've been a great student, making close to no mistakes at all. You're gonna ace it with flying colours."

They left the car and made their way inside the café; the others had set up a few tables so they could all sit together. Sora, Wakka and Riku left momentarily to order everyone's drinks.

"Are you excited to be coming home for the holidays, Naminé?" Olette asked as the blonde moved to sit beside her.

"Kind of," Naminé replied as she shrugged out of her coat, "It'll be nice to be back in my old room again, and I miss the fact that everything's walking distance from where I live."

"Walking? Ugh," Kairi groaned, "Exercise…"

"With that kind of attitude how are you going to make the lacrosse _and_ dance team again this year?" Pence chuckled, and everyone joined in. The boys returned with everyone's drinks; Naminé sighed in relief as she held the mug of steaming hot chocolate to her face.

"So...what's there to do in Twilight Town?" Sora asked slowly as he stirred a spoon in his hot chocolate. The blonde's bright blue eyes lit up as her childhood flickered across her memory.

"Oh, there's a lot to do, trust me," She responded heartily, "There's a sandlot somewhere where people Struggle, but in the wintertime they turn it into an ice rink. At night there's a lot of lights hung up all over the place so it looks really pretty, and on top of that there's a bazillion little stores to browse through. If you go all the way up to the clock tower you have an amazing view of the entire town, and there's a place called Sunset Hill - it's really close to where I live - where you have the best view of the sunset." She sipped at her hot chocolate and glanced at the brunet. "Why do you want to know?"

Sora hesitated for a moment, and his expression looked unsure. He rubbed the back of his head. "Er, well...because my mom is sending my brother and I over to Twilight Town for the holidays to visit my dad."

Naminé nearly choked on her hot chocolate, and she was very close to toppling off her chair. Kairi and Riku, who were sitting on either side of her, carefully held onto her arms just in case she did. The blonde recomposed herself and shook her head wildly, her platinum blonde hair swaying around her face. "You're joking, right? You've _got_ to be joking." When Sora gave her an apologetic smile, she groaned and thunked her forehead against the edge of the table until she could not feel it anymore. "Great, just great-"

Kairi pulled her cousin away from the table and eyed the red mark smeared across her forehead. "Don't worry, this isn't going to ruin your holidays. He's probably going to be occupied since he's going to try and avoid you."

"Maybe if I'm lucky he'll miraculously come down with the measles or something and he'll miss out," Naminé mumbled, reaching for her mug, "Or maybe _I'll _get sick and he'll not want to come."

Hayner knocked on the wooden table to quell Naminé's words. "Don't let him get you down, Naminé. You'll be coming home for the holidays, and that means a lot to you, doesn't it?" She nodded and he continued. "Then if coming home is more important to you, you shouldn't have anything to worry about. Focus on what you want to focus on; don't let anything else distract you."

"You're right," She sighed, pulling at her flick of hair, "I'm really excited to come home. It's been so long."

"I hope he'll be cooperative," Sora frowned, "I have a feeling it's going to be really awkward."

"Maybe this whole holiday thing will knock some sense into him," Olette suggested, "He probably needs to think in a different environment. At least in Twilight Town there won't be any Seifer or XIII to worry about."

Riku, who had been unusually quiet for the entire conversation, spoke up for the first time. "Stick with Kairi and Sora and you'll be alright."

Kairi and Naminé exchanged quick glances out of the corners of their eyes, but luckily Riku did not notice. The group continued talking for awhile, and then they all separated to go home. Sora offered to drive both of the girls home, but just as Naminé was about to step into his car she felt a hand on her shoulder.

"Riku?" She asked with one eyebrow raised; he was smiling sheepishly and had one hand behind his neck.

"Er," He fumbled for a moment; she had never seen him like this before, "Are you doing anything on Thursday? After school, I mean."

"Um, no...probably a little bit of packing 'cause we're leaving right after school on Friday. Why?" She knew what was coming, and there was a heaviness settling in the pit of her chest. She could hear Kairi and Sora whispering to each other from inside the car.

"Well, I wanted to know if you wanted to, y'know, hang out before...before you go." There was a tinge of pink spread across the older boy's cheeks, but Naminé was not sure if it was from the cold or from embarrassment.

Ah, what was one little hangout going to do? It was something _friends_ did. She giggled in amusement and smiled for him.

"Of course we can hang out, Riku."

In an instant Riku's face lit up and he nodded enthusiastically; when he realized he was acting childish he coughed awkwardly and tried to regain his calm, cool image. "Oh! Uh, yeah, cool - I'll pick you up after school, then?" He stuffed his hands in his pockets and smirked, and she laughed again.

"Yes, that's fine with me. I'll see you." She climbed into the car and waved goodbye as Sora drove out of the parking lot.

"You said you only saw him as a friend!" Kairi exclaimed the second Naminé closed the door.

The blonde rolled her eyes. "We're hanging out, Kairi. This isn't going to be any different than the other times Riku and I hung out."

"But the look on his face! The way he was stuttering - you can tell he was implying something else!"

"Kairi has a point there." Sora agreed as he looked behind to switch lanes.

"You guys don't get it, do you?" Naminé flopped back against the leather seat and threw her hands up. "Riku is my _friend, _f-r-i-e-n-d! I don't think of him as anything else, and just because we're hanging out on Thursday doesn't mean anything's gonna happen!"

"Okay, okay," Kairi laughed, shaking her head, "Calm yourself, Nami. I'm just trying to point something out." The car curved into the roundabout of the Hinomoto manor, and once it stopped by the door the girls stepped out. "See you, Sora."

"Bye." Naminé waved as Sora drove away. She walked with Kairi to the mansion; the warmth inside was relieving, and it swelled inside of her as she made her way up the stairs to her room. She shrugged out of her clothes and changed into something more comfortable: a baggy white t-shirt and grey shorts. As soon as she flopped onto her bed Kairi walked in wearing the same outfit, except that her shorts were black.

"Do you really think Riku, er…" Naminé fluttered her hands, implying what she was trying to say. Kairi crawled into the bed beside her and rolled over on her stomach.

"It's kind of obvious, Nami." The bluntness of her tone was all the blonde needed to confirm her suspicions, and she groaned and pressed her face into her pillow.

"What am I going to do?" Her voice was muffled against the soft down, "We've hung out long enough for me to realize that this is the farthest we're going to go. If I liked him I would've felt something a long time ago, right?"

Her redheaded cousin nodded in agreement. "Yeah, most likely." She reached for a pillow and pushed it underneath her chin. "You can't really do much, except tell him how you feel."

The blonde reached for her hair. "I don't want to hurt his feelings, though. Like you said before, he's been luckless when it comes to the whole relationship thing."

"It's hard to be sincere when it comes to these things," Kairi replied sadly, "Sometimes you gotta do what you gotta do."

Naminé was still mulling over it by the time Tuesday arrived; the plows had cleared the streets, which meant that everyone had to return to school. She was the only one out of her friends who did not seem to mind to come back to school; everybody else was walking like their bags were full of cement.

"This week needs to end," Kairi muttered during Math, "I need to get away from all of this."

"I wish I could say that," Her blonde cousin sighed as she twisted her hair around her finger, "My problems seem to follow me wherever I go."

"Don't worry," The redhead assured her, "Sora and I will keep you distracted enough. Besides, it's been so long since I've been to Twilight Town - you gotta remind me of how fun it is!"

The artist smiled and turned back to her math book. "I'll try my best."

When Wednesday came around Naminé's thoughts over Riku and Roxas were so bad she found it difficult to focus in school. Mr. Watanabe called on her three times while she was drifting off and she managed to make a fool out of herself by incorrectly answering his questions. Math was not so bad since Kairi was there to help her out, and in English Sora was just as worried as she was so she did not feel so alone.

"I think you guys are over-thinking the entire thing," Hayner chuckled, "I bet Roxas has his own plans for the holidays."

"But Roxas has never been to Twilight Town before," Sora frowned, "How could he make plans?"

"You'll never know," Naminé muttered under her breath as she flipped through the pages of her English textbook, "He's so unpredictable; he's bound to surprise you."

In Gym they had moved onto volleyball; Naminé was hit on the head at least three times, and when she served the ball actually went backwards instead of over the net. Once school had finished for the day Naminé's worries had shifted from Roxas to Riku.

"You've got to let him down easy," Kairi instructed her; they were sitting on the blonde's bed while listening to some soft music playing from the computer, "Like, be subtle but at the same time be direct."

"How the heck do I do that?" The blonde mumbled pathetically as she pressed her hands to her face.

"Er," Her cousin scratched the side of her head in confusion, "I'm still trying to figure that out." She rolled over on her stomach and tucked her hair behind her ears. "I guess it depends on what you'll be doing too."

"I hope it's nothing elaborate," Naminé sighed, tugging on her curl of hair, "He better see this as a _hangout_, not a _date."_

Kairi frowned. "I guess we'll have to wait and see."

Thursday finally came, and it raced by as quickly as the previous days. Naminé was nervous as the Maybach approached the roundabout of the Hinomoto roundabout; she was half-expecting to see the dark blue Mustang parked by the curb but to her relief it was not there. She exhaled slowly as she climbed out of the car with Kairi.

"Phew, he's not here yet," She shook her head as she made her way up the stairs, "Probably still on his way back from school."

"Probably," Kairi agreed; suddenly Naminé's phone began to ring, and the redhead grinned. "Oh, never mind."

Cursing, the blonde plucked her phone from her pocket and held it up to her ear. She forced on a smile and tried her best to sound cheerful. "Hey Riku."

"Hey Naminé," Riku sounded like he was already in the car, "I'll be coming to your place in another fifteen minutes or so. Cool?"

"Yep, that's fine. I'll see you soon." She cancelled the call and groaned. "Kairi, I don't know if I can do this."

"You have to, Nami," Her cousin insisted as she pushed her into her room, "How else are you going to get this off your back?"

Naminé sighed and pulled out a pair of jeans, a thin white t-shirt and a dark grey cardigan. She left briefly to change in the bathroom, and when she returned she pulled on a pair of black and white sneakers. She grabbed her white knitted beret and stuffed her head into it. "I don't know how to dump a guy, especially when A: we never went out in the first place, and B: I don't think of him that way."

"Well, first thing's first: Riku's a good friend of yours, and friendship comes first, right? Maybe he'll come to realize that somehow, if you imply it."

"I dunno," The blonde frowned, tugging on her hair, "I guess I'll have to wing it." Her phone began to ring, and she sighed. "Right on time."

Kairi moved in to give her cousin a hug. "Good luck, Nami."

The artist grabbed her peacoat and donned it in one swift movement as she hurried out of her room. She raced down the stairs and bolted outside; she spotted Riku beaming at her from the driver's seat of the Mustang. She opened the door and clambered inside; her companion was dressed in jeans, black boots and a leather jacket.

"So, where are we going?" She asked enthusiastically; her facade seemed to be working, for Riku's grin only widened as he curved out of the roundabout.

"Ah, it's nothing special," He replied casually, "I thought you'd like to go for dinner or something."

That was definitely date material. She cringed on the inside, but she forced on another smile. "That sounds great; I was feeling a little hungry anyway."

"Perfect." He reached for the stereo and turned some music; it filled in the silence as he drove into Deyton. She half-expected him to drive towards the boardwalk, but instead he turned in a different direction and they moved closer towards the centre of the city. He parked in a cramped parking lot that was nearly full, and he led her to a set of stairs towards the back that brought them to the second floor of an old-looking building.

Naminé raised a skeptical eyebrow. "Where are we?"

Riku opened the door to reveal a casual-looking restaurant with an old feel to it; the floors, tables and chairs were made of scuffed wood, and there was a bar at the far end. A few of the rooms had pool tables, and the place smelled like steak and beer. There was a jukebox beside the bar, and it was playing the same kind of music that she heard in Riku's car.

"Like I said, it's nothing special." He replied casually; he gestured over to an occupied table by a stained glass window, and the both of them moved to sit. A kind, middle-aged waitress swung by soon afterward and they ordered their food.

"So," Riku started, his tone unsure; it was obvious to tell he was trying to fill in the awkward silence, "How's everything?"

"Erm," Naminé's hand automatically moved to her hair, and she chewed on her bottom lip as she tried to think up of something to say, "Good. Everything's good. Nothing much happening," She thought up of the one topic she knew he would indulge in, and she grinned shyly. "Kinda nervous about the driving test, though."

Like she expected, Riku's shoulders deflated and he leaned forward a little, resting his arms on the table. "I already told you," His voice was back to normal, at least. "You're gonna do fine. You were perfect during practice, so there's no way you can slip up." Their food arrived and he leaned back so the waitress could place their plates on the table. "You just have to remember to always look at your mirrors every once in awhile, and to keep on the right lane."

The blonde frowned as she reached for her fork. "I hope I get my license. It'll be such a letdown for the rest of the holidays if I fail."

"You'll pass, trust me." He smirked as he dug into his steak, and she smiled back. They ate their dinner in a semi-awkward silence; every once in awhile one of them would pick a random topic from the top of their heads, but their conversation would always die too soon. Naminé decided that she did not like this at all; she missed how they would just talk about anything without having to think up of something new every few minutes or so.

Once dinner ended they made their way back towards the car. He opened the door for her and she clambered inside, not forgetting to thank him along the way. He started up the stereo again; she could eye the uneasiness in his expression and it made the guilt inside of her increase tenfold.

_"Friendship comes first, right? Maybe he'll come to realize that somehow, if you imply it." _Kairi's voice was echoing in her head, and she knew that she had to do it now or never. Naminé sucked in a deep lungful of air in a feeble attempt to get rid of the nervous jittery feeling that was bouncing around in her stomach, and she turned to face Riku once he stopped in front of a red light.

"Er, Riku-"

To her surprise he held up a hand. "You don't have to say anything, Naminé."

She blinked, confused. "Huh?"

The light switched to green and he hit the gas. "Our friendship means the most to me," He said casually, "And I don't want to jeopardize it by doing something stupid and out of hand. I understand that you're not in the best of situations right now with you-know-who, and I also understand that he means something to you. I may not understand _why, _but as your friend I'm going to have to learn to accept it."

Her cheeks reddened and her eyes drifted to her shoes. "R-Riku…" The guilt was swelling inside of her, pushing painfully against her ribcage.

"It's okay, Naminé," He chuckled and shook his head, "Really, it's okay. I'll live. I haven't let stuff like this get me down before."

"Still," She mumbled, tugging at her hair, "I wish I could do something...I feel really bad. I'm sorry-"

"Don't apologize; you didn't do anything wrong," He replied kindly, "I want to support you, Naminé. It's gonna be hard for me, of course, but what can I do about it? I gotta suck it up. Before anything you're my friend, and I want to see you happy. I'll learn to accept that fact, and while I'm on my way there I'll try my best to support your decision."

The corners of her eyes began to sting and she clutched the hem of her coat. "Ugh, I feel terrible. Out of all the people in existence...why does this have to happen to me?"

"I wish I could answer that for you." He drove through the Hinomoto gates and stopped right in front of the door. "If I don't see you before you leave, Merry Christmas - you'll be back in time for New Years, right?"

"Y-yeah, we should be back by then." She hesitated for a moment, and then quickly leaned into him for a hug. She felt his arms awkwardly encircle her body as she held him close. "Merry Christmas to you too, Riku." Her voice was muffled against the worn leather.

"You better head inside before you start making me cry too." He said jokingly as he pulled away from her. She sniffled and swiped her eyes and hastily hopped out of the car. "Goodnight, Naminé."

"'Night, Riku! Happy holidays!" She smiled big for him and waved as he drove away. The moment she stepped back inside the mansion Kairi appeared at the foot of the stairs, looking like she had been preparing herself to hear some bad news.

"Why do you look so happy?" The redhead asked suspiciously as her cousin approached her.

"It went better than we both thought," Naminé replied casually as they made their way towards her room, "Riku was kind of expecting it, so he was the one that brought it up."

"What a trooper," Kairi sighed as she strolled over to her cousin's bed and collapsed on it, "I really hope Riku finds somebody soon. He deserves it."

"He really does," The artist agreed as she moved to sit beside her cousin, "I feel so bad for doing this to him."

"Well, it had to be done, right?" The redhead tucked her hair behind her ears. "At least that part's over."

"Yeah," Naminé sighed and lied down beside her cousin, "Now for the bigger problem." She rolled on her side to face Kairi, who was staring up at the bed overhang. "He's going to be hard to avoid."

"I'm sure Roxas will find a way," Her cousin replied, though her voice was unsure, "Or maybe this'll help patch things up between you two. You can't really avoid each other forever."

"But I'm not the one doing the avoiding - _he_ is. I don't want to stay away from him." The blonde's arms unconsciously moved up to hug herself, and she exhaled shakily. "I don't want the holidays to suck because of this."

"It won't suck," Kairi moved in to hug her, "You're gonna ace your road test and Christmas will be so awesome you won't have time to mope about him. Like I said before, Sora and I will keep you distracted - _especially_ Sora."

The blonde buried her face into her cousin's shoulder. "I hope you're right."

She could hear the grin in Kairi's voice. "I always am."

--

_A/N: It was hard picturing the kind of music Riku listens to; he doesn't really seem like the music type, at least to me. The songs that managed to come to mind were _Right Here _by Staind and _Wasting My Time _by Default - a lot of alternative stuff._

_Some of the songs heard in the restaurant were _Everlong _by Foo Fighters and _Last Kiss _by Pearl Jam._


	16. If Not Now, When?

_A/N: I'm back! Thanks for the well wishes - my trip was great. I envy those who live in California and Hawaii...sun all the time, maaaan...  
100+ reviews, wow! I never thought I'd get this far, haha.  
Thank you for your wonderful comments on both the story and my taste in music - as a music major I try to see the upside in all genres so I attempt to incorporate that into my stories. Anyway, enough of my rambling. On with the show!_

_--_

**If Not Now, When?**

"You're kidding me, right?" Axel was staring suspiciously at the prettily wrapped package in Naminé's hands. They were sitting in the usual ramen shop for lunch; Axel decided to show up for school today so he can see his friend one last time before she left for the holidays.

"It's not like I planted a bomb inside or anything," The blonde giggled, "It's for you, dummy. It's called a Christmas present." She pushed the gift into his hands. "I spent hours picking it out for you, so you better like it!"

"How sweet," Axel turned the somewhat large, rectangular-shaped box over in his hands, eyeing the shiny wrapping. He even shook it once or twice. He tucked it underneath the table and rubbed the back of his neck. "Aw, now I feel bad for not getting you anything."

She waved it off dismissively. "You don't have to. I just thought you needed something, and Christmas just happened to be around the corner so I decided to get it for you." She smiled at his confused expression.

He rolled his eyes and returned to his soup. "What do I need, if you don't mind me asking?"

"If I told you, the surprise would be ruined." She grinned, and he rolled his eyes a second time. She frowned as she reached for her chopsticks, unsure of what to say next. "So, er...how _are_ you going to spend the holidays, since, uh...y'know."

The redhead smirked and brushed his fingers through his hair. "I always spend it with the only person I consider _family - _my big brother." He dropped his chopsticks and folded his hands underneath his chin. "He ran away a few years back - said he was sick of how everything was and stuff, and I can't blame him either - and now he's a helicopter pilot. He's the only one who's doing alright."

"Erm, why didn't you run away with him?"

"To be honest with you, I have no idea," Axel laughed a little ruefully, "I was only eleven when it happened; he was thirteen. I don't know how he managed to survive out there when he was so young, but he made it. I guess the reason why I decided not to go with him was because I was too afraid."

Naminé's head cocked to the side. "Afraid of what?"

Her friend smirked. "Afraid of the outside world. I knew that the city was a big place, and anything could happen in it. Granted, it's kind of ironic saying this now because I'm practically in the city most of the time, but back then I was just a kid; I didn't know much. After my brother left I was angry because I didn't go with him. Sometimes I felt like he abandoned me, left me to live with all this crap - y'know, teenage angst and whatnot - but it wasn't until I got older that I realized I could've made the same decision he did."

The blonde's eyes traveled to her soup. "You eventually made that decision, though, didn't you? How else would you be here right now?"

"I mentioned something about my uncle to you before, haven't I?" She nodded and he continued. "Yeah, somehow he managed to get a hold of me - he's one of those Christmas card-worthy relatives, if y'know what I mean - and pulled me out of the hellhole that I was living in. He pays for my school and everything but he's never around. Too busy with business and whatnot. My brother managed to slip out of his grasp unnoticed."

She tugged on her hair. "Wow."

Axel leaned back in his chair and placed his hands behind his head. "Yeah, but it's not really as bad as it looks. I've got The XIII, my truck, a pack of cigs in my pocket and my brother. I'm not empty-handed; there's nothing to complain about." He closed his eyes and his smirk returned. "There's always something to look forward to, Naminé, no matter how ugly things look right now. Got it memorized?"

The blonde smiled softly. "You always know what to say, Axel."

He leaned forward and rested his arms on the table. "I never disappoint." He reached to muss up her hair. "You may not like where your life is right now, but admit it - you can't help but anticipate what's coming for you." He stood up and brushed off his blazer. "Shall we?"

When Axel pulled into the student parking lot and parked the car the first thing Naminé did was give him a big hug. She pulled away to smile up at him. "You're a good friend, you know that?"

He smirked as they left the truck together. "I'd like to think so." He ruffled her hair again and lightly pushed her forward. "Now hurry up; you've got class to attend."

"Merry Christmas! I'll see you before New Years!" She hollered back as she dashed towards the Arts Wing.

"So did you give Axel your present?" Sora asked the minute she sat down for English.

She nodded happily. "Yep - I hope he likes it."

"He better," Hayner chuckled, "We spent hours in that place looking for the perfect one!"

School ended quickly, and by the time Naminé and Kairi were in the Maybach they were literally bouncing with excitement.

"School is _finally_ done for the holidays," Kairi sighed in relief as she leaned back against her seat, "Now I can sleep in…"

"Hey, it looks like Riku's here." Naminé's nose was pressed against the window; the dark blue Mustang was parked by the curb and he was waving to them as the Maybach drew closer. The girls clambered out and approached him. "Hey Riku."

"Hey guys," He grinned, "I just wanted to see you off. Excited to be coming home?"

"Of course," The blonde smiled, "And I think I'm ready to take that road test now." It was relieving to see that nothing between them changed.

"Oh!" Kairi exclaimed; both Naminé and Riku turned to face her. "Uh, Nami and I got you a present, Riku. I'll get it - hold on." She raced inside the house and disappeared for a few minutes. When she came back she was holding a blue gift bag. "Merry Christmas from the both of us." She grinned as she handed it over.

Riku chuckled. "Thanks," He opened the door to his car and placed the gift inside, but when he turned around he was holding two small boxes in his hands. "And these are for you." He chuckled again when both girls shook the boxes. "It's nothing special, really-"

"Don't be like that," Naminé chided, and Kairi giggled, "A gift from a friend is always special."

"She's got that right," Kairi agreed; there was the sound of a car strolling towards them and the redhead turned to face her cousin, "Oh, I think your parents are here."

"Have fun, you guys," Riku grinned as he stepped into his car, "Make sure Sora doesn't do anything stupid." He closed the door and the engine roared to life; in seconds he was out of the roundabout.

"Naminé," Ayame was beaming as she emerged from the car. The blonde grinned and bounded forward to capture her mother in a tight hug.

"Hi Mom," Jin came soon afterward and she caught him in her arms, "Dad."

"Are you girls ready?" Jin eyed Geoffery and Takai coming out of the manor with their bags. He helped the two men stuff the luggage into the trunk; miraculously they managed to squeeze everything in. "I think we're good - I'm just going to head inside to talk to your dad for a bit, and then we'll get going."

"Does your mom still make those amazing cookies?" Kairi asked eagerly as they crawled into the back seat of the sedan, "I miss those cookies…"

The blonde giggled as she buckled her seatbelt. "Yes, yes she does. I bet she has some waiting for us at home." She sighed and rested her chin in her palm. "When's Sora leaving?"

"They're leaving a little later," The redhead replied, "He's gonna call me when they're in the area. He said that his dad lives just a few houses away from you. Convenient, isn't it?"

Naminé groaned and buried her face in her hands. "Fate must hate me."

School left the girls very tired, and the car ride was a few hours long so they used the opportunity to take a nap. Kairi turned her MP3 player on and shared earbuds with her cousin; soft music played in the background, which made it easier to fall asleep. When Ayame woke them up the sun was already down; Naminé groggily rubbed her eyes and peered out the window.

It was dark out, but the numerous Christmas lights flashing in her eyes illuminated parts of the town; she saw the familiar buildings she used to pass by on her way to school, and the convenience store by the corner where she would always buy candy. Finally they drove into Sunset Terrace, and she smiled as the car passed by the cozy looking townhouses.

"Welcome home," She heard Kairi murmur from behind her, and her smile widened.

The car finally pulled up into the regular-sized driveway of Naminé's regular-sized house. Everything seemed so small now. The girls helped Jin with the bags, and they wheeled them inside the regular-sized foyer. The blonde almost forgot how ordinary everything looked.

"I need to get used to my own house again," She mumbled to herself as she dragged her bags upstairs to her room. Her Twilight Town room was bare white, but the walls were completely covered in various pieces of her artwork. Her small bed was pushed to the wall, just underneath her window, and there was a drafting table and an easel on the opposite side. The white floor was cluttered with art supplies.

"I thought you were the neat one in the family, Nami." Kairi raised an eyebrow at the mess. The blonde tugged on her hair as she moved around the room to clear the floor.

"Sorry," She grinned sheepishly. Her and Kairi set their bags on the floor and unpacked; they had enough clothes for next week, which meant that they were going back to the Hinomoto Manor in time for New Years.

"So," Naminé said as both cousins sat on her bed; they had changed out of their uniforms and into more comfortable clothing, "Is there a reason why we're coming back before New Years?"

"You know Selphie? The girl in our Math class, the really chatty one?"

"Oh, yeah - what about her?"

"She's throwing her annual New Years bash," Kairi shrugged, "Everyone's invited."

The blonde raised an eyebrow. "Annual? She does this on a regular basis?"

The redhead shrugged again and moved to rest her back against the wall. "Her parents are hardly home so she takes advantage of the house. Every time there's a break or a special occasion she throws something. We went to the Halloween one, but you were too depressed to come with us."

"Wow," Naminé leaned against the wall beside her cousin, "They must be insane parties."

"Pretty much," Kairi said casually, "She invites people from Brighton, Somerset and St. Annes - the all girls' school. Some kids from the public schools in Deyton come too. It's always packed." She held back a yawn and glanced at her phone. "I'm bushed."

"Take my bed if you want," Naminé offered, "I'm gonna go downstairs for a bit." She rolled off the edge and jokingly tucked Kairi into bed. "'Night."

The redhead yawned again and stuffed her face into the pillow. "G'night."

Shaking her head in amusement, Naminé crept out of the room and made her way downstairs to the kitchen, where her mother was just sliding a tray of cookies into the oven.

"Oh, Kairi was waiting for those," The blonde grinned as she moved to sit by the table, "She misses your cookies."

"Who wouldn't?" Ayame laughed softly; after she closed the oven she walked over to the table and sat across her daughter. "So how's everything? Is school doing okay for you?"

She tugged at her hair. "Yeah, nothing special. It's just like any other school, I guess." Roxas' face flashed across her memory and she cringed. "My friend is actually going to be in town for the holidays too; he's here to visit his dad with his brother."

"Oh?" Ayame tapped her chin with an index finger. "Now that you mention it, someone just moved a few houses down from us some months ago. He's a young man - I don't know if this is the same dad you're talking about, though."

Naminé inwardly groaned but she tried her best to remain cheerful. "Yeah, it's probably him. My friend Sora said that his dad lives just a few houses away."

Her mother frowned. "Hm, are you sure? He looks awfully young for a dad - he's probably in his early thirties at the most. I guess you'll get to see him when Sora comes into town. Are you friends with his brother too?"

An uncomfortable aching made itself present in the centre of the blonde's chest, and she clutched at it subconsciously. "Y-yes, sort of. His name's Roxas."

Her mother raised a suspicious eyebrow. "I don't like that look, Naminé. You've had history with this boy, haven't you?"

The blonde blinked incredulously. "How did you figure that out?"

Ayame laughed and leaned forward the table, resting her arms on the smooth wooden surface. "Mothers always know when something's up with their kids, and let's face it - you're not the best when it comes to hiding things." She shook her head in amusement when her daughter's cheeks flushed a light pink. "So, what happened?"

Naminé was tugging so hard on her flick of hair that her head was jerking backwards. "We...er, we were never really _together_ together in the first place, but I think we were well on our way," She frowned as she tried think up of a way to explain things without having to directly mention The XIII, "Then when things were getting better he told me that he wasn't good enough for me, and then that was it."

"Hm," Ayame murmured, "What makes him think that he's no good for you?"

The artist sighed and shook her head. "Honestly, I don't really know. He's kind, sweet and thoughtful - and very smart. He's musical, for Pete's sake! _Musical!" _She threw her hands up in the air and Ayame laughed. "You only come across guys like him once a millennium, or something like that! If anything _I'm _the one that's not good enough." Her shoulders dropped and a lump formed in her throat.

"Oh, don't say that," Her mother leaned forward to place her hands on top of hers, "He's probably going through a lot right now, and he doesn't want you to get mixed up with the mess. Give him time."

"Time," Naminé scoffed despite the annoying prickling in her eyes, "It's been months since we last talked, and for some reason I'm still sulking over what happened."

"You know it's worth it when it still hurts after all this time, Naminé." Ayame smiled warmly, and she squeezed her daughter's hands affectionately. "Nobody likes to wait, but it always pays off in the end." She let go of her hands and swiveled around in her chair to face the oven; the kitchen was filled with the hazy, sweet aroma of freshly baked cookies. "I think they're just about ready. You better fetch Kairi."

The blonde giggled. "Will do." She left her chair and circled the table to give her mother a hug. "Thanks, Mom."

Ayame laughed and hugged her daughter back. "Anytime, Naminé."

She grinned and jogged up the stairs to her room, bursting through the door. Kairi was a heavy sleeper; she was still snoring, and one leg was hanging off the side of the bed. Naminé noticed something flashing by her cousin's head; her phone had a few missed calls. She grabbed the small pink device and realized that Sora had been trying to call her, which meant that he was here.

"Hey - hey you!" Naminé scrambled on top of her cousin and pushed her shoulder lightly; when that did not work she resorted to shoving. "Wake up!"

"Buh?" Kairi sat up slowly and lazily pushed the blonde off of her, her eyes half-open and her hair all over the place. She rubbed her eyes sleepily and turned to stare at her cousin. "Whazzat?" She sounded like she was half-asleep.

The blonde held the phone up to her cousin's face, pointing to the glaring screen. "Your boyfriend's been trying to call you," She chortled, "And the cookies are ready."

Kairi's eyes widened and she suddenly looked more awake. "Cookies?" She grabbed her phone and blinked at it. "Oh, Sora's probably here already." She shrugged and pushed her phone into her pocket. "He can wait - cookies first!"

The girls raced downstairs to the kitchen, where a plateful of cookies was waiting for them. They devoured it in a matter of minutes, and then Kairi called Sora.

"He's inviting us over," The redhead said once she hung up, "Um, are you okay with that?"

Uneasiness was swirling inside her stomach but Naminé nodded anyway. "Of course. I don't mind." They trekked back up to her room and donned their jackets, mittens and scarves.

Sora and Roxas' dad's house was only seven houses down; the walk did not even take five minutes, even with the thick snow. Sora opened the door just seconds after they rang the doorbell, dressed in a navy hoodie and jeans.

"Hey guys!" He was as energetic and cheerful as ever, and he ushered them into the foyer. The place looked a little empty - a typical bachelor pad. There was some furniture lying here and there, but besides that there was not much else to look at.

"Who's at the door, Sora - oh, what a coincidence!" A man that looked a lot like an adult Roxas had stepped into the room with his hands in his pockets; his tousled blond spikes stuck up exactly like Roxas' did, and his dark blue eyes were glinting under the lamplight. "Hey Kairi, haven't seen you in awhile. What are you doing here in Twilight Town?"

Kairi grinned and waved. "I'm staying over at my cousin's for half of the holiday break." She elbowed Naminé sharply in the ribs and the blonde immediately bent over. "This is her, by the way."

"I-I'm Naminé Hinomoto." Her cheeks were flushed so she decided to remain bent over for a little longer. "It's nice to meet you, Mister Nozuka."

The blond man's mouth curved into a very familiar smirk. "Why, it's nice to meet you too, Naminé. Hm, you have a very pretty name - it suits you," The older man chuckled and she flushed even more, "And please, call me Ven - Mr. Nozuka's what my boss calls me." He moved to stand beside his son and he pressed his hand down on his spiky brown hair. "Where's the other kid?"

Sora hesitated for a moment and rubbed the back of his neck. "Uh, I think he's upstairs. On the phone."

It was easy to see that he was lying; Naminé and Kairi glanced at each other from the corners of their eyes. Ven stretched his arms and placed his hands behind his head.

"That's no fun - tell him to come down here! Not entertaining your guests is rude!"

The brunet stuttered uncertainly for a moment, and he threw the girls a defeated stare before dashing up the stairs. Minutes later he came back down with his blond brother in tow; a painful lump grew in Naminé's throat and she swallowed in a vain attempt to force it down. Roxas looked more tired than she had last seen him, and there was a new band-aid folded over his jawline. The white t-shirt he was wearing was wrinkly, and there were numerous tears and holes in his faded jeans but she was not sure if they were part of the style or from one of his gang-related antics.

"What were you doing upstairs?" Ven chastised his lookalike son, though there was a hint of lightheartedness in his tone, "Your friends are over - shouldn't you be hanging out with them?"

"Sorry," Roxas rubbed the back of his head; it looked like he was trying very hard to avoid Naminé's gaze, "I was taking a nap."

His father raised an eyebrow. "Sora told me you were on the phone."

"I _thought_ he was on the phone." The brunet corrected him, and the twins met eyes for a split second.

"Same thing." Ven shrugged. "Well, I'm gonna leave you guys alone - got some work to do. I'll be around if you need me." He returned to the room he came from, leaving the four teenagers to themselves. After few awkward minutes Roxas spun around on his heel to trudge back up the staircase, muttering an incoherent excuse to leave along the way.

After watching his brother leave Sora stepped closer towards the girls and smiled nervously. "So, what do you guys want to do? It's not even nine yet, so I think we can go out for a bit."

Naminé, who was busy mentally suppressing the urge to run up the stairs after Roxas, tore her eyes away from the staircase to look at her friend. "Um, sure. I can show you around, if you want."

Both Kairi and Sora's faces lit up. "That sounds like fun." The redhead beamed.

"I'll go get my jacket." Sora dashed up the staircase and disappeared for a few minutes.

"Their dad seems nice." Naminé commented as she pulled her mittens on; she forced her eyes on her cousin, knowing that if she did not put any restraint on them she would be staring at the stairs again.

"He is - Ven's very easygoing," Kairi agreed, "Sometimes I forget that he's a parent."

She heard strange noises coming from upstairs, but she chose not to acknowledge them. It sounded like Sora and Roxas were having some sort of argument. "I can't blame you - he looks so young!"

"Their mom does too, if you haven't noticed." Kairi said just as Sora returned, bounding down the staircase. "Are you ready?"

For some reason he looked more uneasy than he did before he went upstairs. "Yeah. Let's go." He reached for the door and wrenched it open; Naminé mechanically turned around to glance at the staircase one last time before Kairi pushed her out into the cold wintry outdoors.

Twilight Town was very bright at night, especially during the holidays since all the little shops were lavishly decorated in lights and shiny Christmas ornaments. Because it was already evening they did not have enough time to explore the entire town, but Naminé managed to show them most of Sunset Terrace. They ordered some hot chocolate at a small café before heading up to Sunset Hill.

"Why are you bringing us here?" Sora asked curiously as he pulled Kairi further up the snow-covered pathway.

"You'll see," Naminé glanced over her shoulder to smile at the twosome as she pressed forward. When they finally reached the top she gestured over to an unoccupied bench near the edge. "Sit there and look up at the sky."

Sora and Kairi followed her instructions; minutes later their heads were tilted back and their expressions were awestruck. "Wow," The brunet breathed, "You can see the stars!"

Sora was right; without any lights to disturb the darkness the tiny twinkling dots covering the inky night sky were easy to see. They spent a few minutes pointing out constellations and making pictures out of a few stars that were clumped close together.

"That's something you can't see in our town," Kairi laughed, "There's lights everywhere, so it's too bright to see anything." She sipped a bit of her hot chocolate. "It's nice and quiet here too; you're lucky you've got a place like this, Nami - and it's walking distance from your house!"

The blonde grinned and moved to stand behind the bench. "I know - I come here all the time."

A few moments of silence elapsed between the three of them. Sora's arm found its way around Kairi's shoulders and the redhead leaned in to rest her head against him. Feeling a little out of place, Naminé stepped to the side to give them space, and she flushed when her cousin and her boyfriend turned their heads to look at each other. She knew it was not polite to stare, but how could she resist? The look they had in their eyes...it was something she had only seen once before, in a pair of dark blue depths she had been trying so hard to forget in the past few months. She gulped when the twosome leaned even closer, and she turned her head at the right time when they met lips. She awkwardly sipped at her hot chocolate, forcing herself to look up at the sky as Kairi and Sora had their little moment together. They could have at least spared just a little bit of common courtesy, but then again it was her fault for bringing them here; sitting on a hilltop underneath the stars on a cold winter's night practically screamed romance.

Loneliness pulsed inside of her and she clutched her hot chocolate to her chest as her eyes drifted from the sky to her shoes. She could hear Kairi and Sora whispering to each other, and the affection dripping from their voices only made the hurt worse. Did they somehow forget that she was here?

"Erm," Naminé cleared her throat and the couple on the bench turned to face her, "I think I'm gonna head home now - you guys look like you need some time alone."

"Aw, Nami, I'm sorry," Kairi's eyes were apologetic, "We didn't mean to make you feel left out. We'll go back with you."

The blonde's eyes widened and she shook her head. "N-no, no! You don't have to do that. I'll be fine on my own, really. You guys just stay here."

Sora frowned. "Are you sure?"

She forced herself to laugh. "Of course I am - don't worry about me."

Kairi did not look convinced, but she nodded anyway. "Alright. Maybe tomorrow we can go into town. We'll go skating in the sandlot, like you said."

"And maybe we can go up on that clock tower." Sora added.

Naminé smiled softly despite the aching that was pulsating in her throat. "Y-yeah, we can do all of that tomorrow if you're up for it." She spun on her heel just as soon as the tears made their way to her eyes. "See you guys later!"

She walked briskly down the path, throwing her half-finished hot chocolate into a nearby rubbish bin and swiping furiously at her eyes. The bothersome tears streamed freely down her face and dripped onto the snow as she crunched through it. Luckily the walk to her house was not very long, and she was at her front door in less than ten minutes. She nearly tripped on her way up the stairs to her room, and when she finally made it she threw her jacket, gloves and earmuffs on the floor and sat on the edge of her bed. She was still for a very long time.

_"You know it's worth it when it still hurts after all this time," _Her mother's words reverberated inside of her, and she groaned. All this hurting was getting tiring.

Whatever happened to _getting over it?_ She felt stupid for feeling this way. There was no way she should be feeling like this, not when it happened so long ago. With the ties between them completely severed what exactly was she holding onto?

She wanted to blame Kairi and Sora for reminding her of just how lonely she really felt, but she knew at the same time that it was more of her fault. She did not have the heart to point the finger at them anyway; she loved those two to death, and besides Riku and Axel they were always there whenever she fell into another relapse. It was not their fault, not at all.

Naminé's thin arms wound around her small body and her shoulders shook with dry sobs; she was all cried out for the night. She crawled out of bed and onto the floor towards one of her luggage bags; after some rummaging through she pulled out his blazer, the one he had draped over her shoulders that Friday night. Initially she brought it as an intention to finally return it to him, but now she realized she was only kidding herself; there was no way she was going to be able to talk to him at all at this point.

She exhaled shakily as she pulled the sleeves back over her hands and settled into the mattress. She was so used to the impossibly comfortable bed back at the Hinomoto manor; she never realized how stiff this one was.

She was not obsessed; it sounded more depressing and desperate that way, and she was not being annoying about it. This was the first time she relapsed in awhile; it was a new record for her.

Naminé tossed and turned for another hour before Kairi returned. Not really feeling like talking to her at the moment, she rolled around so that she was facing the wall and pretended to be asleep. She felt her cousin hovering over her for a few minutes, and she even felt her fingers brush her shoulder.

"Again, Nami?" She heard the pity in her words, and she hated it. Kairi heaved a sigh and turned around to prepare her sleeping bag.

There was a fine line between wanting something and needing something. The aching in her throat was coming back, but she refused to let Kairi know. She stuffed her face into her pillow and forced herself into a dreamless sleep.

She would feel better in the morning.

--

_A/N: Anyone catch the FFVII reference?_

_Some of the soft music playing in the car: _Linger _by The Cranberries and _Comin' Home _by City And Colour._

_Portions of this chapter were inspired by Jimmy Eat World's _For Me This Is Heaven _(one of my favourite songs of all time)_ - _the title is taken from a line of the song, and I pictured it playing in the background during the stargazing part (the first few lines of the song helped write it)._


	17. Haggard Holidays

**Haggard Holidays.**

"Alright, Naminé!" Sora cheered and pumped a fist in the air; the blonde flushed in embarrassment.

"Now I have a new personal driver." Kairi grinned.

Naminé was clutching an important-looking paper in her hands; it was her temporary driver's license. She just passed her road test this morning and she was ecstatic. Of course she would not need to drive now because everything was walking distance in Twilight Town, but this also meant that she no longer had to trouble Takai for a ride to and from school.

"I don't think I've ever felt this satisfied with myself before," The blonde's hand moved to her hair, "I can't believe I passed."

"You have to tell Riku," Kairi insisted as she gestured towards her cousin's phone, "He should've been the first person to know!"

The artist reached for her phone and hastily dialed her friend's number. He picked up two rings later. "Riku, guess what?"

"You passed your test?" He guessed eagerly, and when Naminé shrieked an excitable 'YES!' in response he laughed. "See, I knew you could do it! I had complete faith in you."

She grinned. "Thanks, I don't think I could've done this without you - oh, Sora and Kairi say hi."

"Tell 'em I say hi back," Riku replied cheerily, "Having fun at home?"

"Yep, it's really nice to be back." The past week had been peaceful and entertaining with Sora and Kairi; she had to admit that there were times where she felt like a third wheel but other than that it had been pretty fun. They did practically everything, from ice skating to drinking egg nog (she was not a big fan of that but Ven suggested they try it and she could not say no). Kairi and Naminé even spent a night at Sora's place, and they stayed up watching movies and eating junk food. Of course Roxas isolated himself in his room while the three had fun in the basement, but Naminé learned to cope with it. She never saw him once since the first day, and she liked it (at least that was what it looked like on the outside) that way.

"That's good to hear," The grin was easy to hear in Riku's voice, "You guys are coming back soon, aren't you?"

"Mmhmm - two days after Christmas."

"Good - it's starting to get a little boring here without you guys." Riku chuckled. "Well, I better get going. It was nice hearing from you, and congrats again."

"Thanks, and we'll see you soon!" The blonde cancelled the call and beamed at her two friends. "So, what now?"

"I think we should go out for lunch," Kairi suggested, "To celebrate your passing into driver...hood."

"Whatever that means," Naminé giggled, "Alright, where do you want to go?"

"It's up to you," Sora shrugged, "You're the one who just passed their road test."

The artist tapped her chin with her finger. "Hm, why don't we grab some takeout, and then we'll bring it up to the clock tower?" That was the only thing she managed not to show them yet.

"Oh yeah, you said it had a great view of the entire city from up there, right?" Kairi asked, and her cousin nodded. "Okay, let's go!"

They left Naminé's house and made their way into town; they stopped by at a small Chinese restaurant to order lunch, and then they returned to the train station to climb the tower. Since it was very high up the wind blew a little harder, and it was colder than it already was.

"Wow," Sora leaned over the edge to see how far up they were, "You were right; I think I can see everything from up here."

"It's so pretty," Kairi gazed upwards and watched the fluffy snow fall all around them, "Why can't our town have anything like this?"

Naminé smiled and sat down, resting her back against the wall. She opened her box of food and sipped at her hot tea. "This place gets kinda boring after awhile too, you know."

"How can you get bored of this place? There always seems to be something to do around here." Kairi chuckled as she sat next to her cousin, reaching for her box of food. Sora followed suit and pretty soon the three of them dug into their lunches.

"I guess home is always kind of boring since you spend most of your life in it," The blonde shrugged as she picked at her noodles, "And then when you go someplace entirely new everything seems so exciting. I find your place more exciting than here."

"It's vice versa for us." Sora smiled, and the girls laughed. They finished their lunch with some light conversation.

"Where do you guys want to go next?" Naminé asked as she tossed her garbage into a nearby rubbish bin.

"Er, I think Sora wants to stay up here a little more," Kairi looked flustered and she was scratching the side of her head; there was a tinge of pink spread across her cheeks and the blonde knew it was not from the cold weather.

"Are you sure it's just Sora that wants to stay up here?" Naminé asked slyly, crossing her arms and chuckling at her cousin's abashed expression. When the redhead did not answer she laughed some more. "Alright, I'll leave you guys alone for awhile. I'm just gonna walk around town, so if you need me just call."

"You're okay with that?" Kairi asked unsurely; her blonde cousin nodded and waved her off with one hand.

"This isn't the first time this happened, Kairi." She smirked; she shook her head and spun on her heel to make her way down the clock tower. "Just call me later when you're finished, er, _admiring the view."_

"You're stealing my jokes!" Kairi cried from behind, and Naminé laughed as she descended the steps. When she emerged from the train station she tugged on her hair and glanced left and right; she probably had at least an hour or so to herself, and since this was her town she had been everywhere more than a couple of times and nothing was new and exciting. She shrugged and began walking in a random direction, not really caring where she ended up in. The air grew chillier and she ducked into her coat collar, pressing the bottom half of her face into her white scarf. She ended up wandering back into the train station and taking the train back to Sunset Terrace. In another ten minutes she found herself walking up the trail to Sunset Hill, but when she reached the top she found someone standing by the edge, staring out into the horizon. She would have said something - maybe a hello or an 'oops, I didn't know anybody was here' - but her throat closed and her chest began to ache.

Roxas somehow knew that she was standing just a few feet behind him, and he turned around. Their eyes met for a split second and suddenly it was Monday afternoon all over again.

"Erm," Naminé's eyes dropped to her boots; she was tugging so hard on her hair her head was beginning to hurt, "S-sorry, I didn't...I didn't know-"

She heard the crunching of his boots against the snow. "I was just leaving." His voice was emotionless as he brushed past her; she caught a whiff of his cologne and she closed her eyes as her senses enveloped it. The emptiness in his tone hit her just as hard as it did all those months ago, and the aching in her chest increased tenfold. When she could not hear his footsteps anymore she moved over to the bench and sat down, staring straight ahead into the horizon. Her thoughts were blank but her eyes, throat and chest were still hurting; soon tears began to trickle down her pallid cheeks, but she did not wipe them away.

Half an hour later her phone began to ring, much to her relief. She finally raised her arm to wipe the tears from her face and she answered her phone. "Hey Kairi," She grinned despite the harrowing feeling reverberating inside of her, "Finished up there?"

"Shut up," Kairi muttered, and Naminé could not help but giggle, "Yes, pervert, we're _finished. _What do you want to do now?"

"Pervert?" The blonde snorted. "Look who's talking!" She ignored the string of protests Kairi was throwing her and continued. "Why don't we go back to my house and warm up with a movie? My mom probably made some more cookies."

"That sounds like fun," Kairi agreed; there was a short pause before she spoke up again, "Are you sick, Nami?"

The artist raised an eyebrow. "No, I don't think so. Why?"

"You sound a little stuffy, like you have a cold or something."

Naminé's eyes widened and she swiped at them again. "M-maybe it's the reception or something. I'm fine."

"Hm, oh well." Kairi sounded unsure. "We'll see you at the house in ten."

The blonde pocketed her phone and shook her head, trying to rid herself of the annoying aching inside. Since Sora and Kairi were not going to be home for another little while she took her time walking down the pathway, stuffing her hands in her pockets and dropping her gaze to the floor. She managed to walk slow enough to make it to her house in ten minutes; Sora and Kairi were walking from the other end of the sidewalk.

"Where did you go?" Sora asked as they wriggled out of their coats.

Naminé shrugged and kicked off her boots. She wandered into the den, where a plate of freshly baked cookies was waiting for them on the coffee table. "Walked around. I'm already getting bored of this place; I can't wait to go back after Christmas."

"Why? So you can be even more bored?" Kairi laughed as she plopped down on the sofa and reached for a cookie. She fought with Sora over the movie they were going to watch; the redhead wanted to watch a sappy chickflick with a cliché plotline whilst her boyfriend picked an overly macho action movie with fast camera pans and unnecessary explosions. Of course, Kairi won in the end.

Christmas Eve was not very different than the previous days; they went skating in the sandlot, hung out at the top of the clock tower and walked around town. They stayed up late watching movies at Sora's house; by the time the girls came home it was nearly four in the morning.

"NAMI!" Kairi's shrieking voice blared in the poor blonde's ears nearly five hours later. Naminé, too tired to be surprised, groaned and pressed a pillow over her head.

"Go away," She protested, her words heavy from sleep, "Tired."

"How can you be tired?!" Kairi leapt on top of her cousin and began shoving her shoulders; she tore the pillow away from her face and hopped off the bed, grabbing Naminé's wrist along the way. "It's Christmas! _Christmas!"_

"Oh yeah," Naminé mumbled as she let her cousin pull her out of her room, "It's Christmas today."

"Can't you act at least a _little bit_ surprised?" Kairi rolled her eyes as she bounded down the stairs, "You're so boring."

"I _would_ act surprised if I had at least two more hours of sleep." The blonde grumbled; she spotted her parents waiting for them in the den, where the Christmas tree was. A small pile of presents was waiting for her.

"Merry Christmas, girls!" Jin captured the both of them in a hug, and then Ayame followed suit. "Hope you like what we got for you."

"Thanks, Dad." The artist yawned and shook her head as she watched Kairi excitedly drop to her knees in front of the presents. "You didn't have to get me anything, really-"

"Oh hush, Naminé," Ayame laughed, waving her daughter off with a hand, "You're too modest for your age."

"Your mother's right," Jin chuckled as the blonde flushed tomato red, "Sometimes I wonder if you were born in the right decade." He lightly pushed his daughter towards the presents, where Kairi was already ripping through a couple of them. "Go on, kid. Go crazy."

"Here," Her cousin tossed her a box wrapped in red wrapper with candy canes all over it, "That's from Olette and Hayner."

"Wow," Naminé gaped as she unraveled the present underneath the pretty wrapping: it was a new palette and some tubes of high quality oil paints, "This is just what I needed too!" She continued rifling through her other presents: Pence gave her a new set of sketching pencils, Tidus' present was a beautiful leather bound sketchbook with a flower-shaped metal clasp and Wakka gave her a handmade anklet made out of white puka shells. Sora's present was a little unusual: it was a keychain with a little silver flower, and there was another chain with a tiny silver crown adorned with shiny crystals.

"I really like the flower," Naminé said as she turned the shiny keychain over in her small hands; she picked up the crown and squinted at it, "But what's the crown for?"

"I'm not sure." Kairi replied; she tossed her a small box. "We didn't open Riku's gift yet."

"Oh yeah!" The blonde looked over to her cousin, who was holding a similar box. "I wonder what it is." She plucked the tape off carefully and slowly unwrapped the wrapping. Kairi was a complete opposite; she was tearing the paper off like her life depended on it. When both girls opened the boxes they gasped simultaneously.

"Wow." They breathed as they picked up the contents of their boxes; Riku bought them both silver charm bracelets. There was already one charm attached: a small silver figure shaped like a motorcycle.

"So _that's _what this is for." Naminé clipped the tiny crown onto the bracelet and slipped it onto her wrist. She brought her wrist up to eye level and marveled at her present, letting the light bouncing off the Christmas ornaments catch onto the silver jewelry.

"It's so pretty!" Instead of a crown Sora gave his girlfriend a star-shaped charm with a little leaf protruding from the top; Kairi clipped it next to the motorcycle.

"How come Sora gave me a crown," Naminé asked, pointing to the tiny charm, "And yours is a star?"

Kairi scratched the side of her head with an index finger. "The crown is kind of Sora's _symbol_ - it's kinda hard to describe. You see it everywhere: his car has it, it's some of his clothes, and it's all over his room. I don't really know why, though." Her cheeks darkened a little and she began to hesitate. "As for the star, erm, well I don't know if you know this but he and Roxas were born in Destiny Islands, like Wakka. They spent the first few of years of their lives there; they moved to the Deyton area when they were around four, and then their parents divorced shortly afterward."

"Destiny Islands? Wow, that's really far."

"Yep - anyway, there's a fruit that only grows there. It's called a paopu fruit, and it's shaped like a star with a little leaf at the top." Kairi's cheeks reddened even more and she began to fumble with her chain. "Er, apparently if two people take a bite from the same fruit their destinies become intertwined."

"Aw," For once it was Naminé's turn to gush, "That's a really cute concept. The fact that he gave you a charm for Christmas is even cuter!"

"Y-yeah," Kairi laughed, placing her hand behind her head; she shook off her embarrassment soon afterward and grinned. "Anyway, it's time for me to give you your present."

"Er, what?" The blonde raised an eyebrow. "I thought we agreed not to get each other anything."

"Yes, but who cares?" The redhead countered, and her cousin blushed. She pointed to the flower keychain. "Do you know why Sora gave you that?"

Naminé felt nervous for some reason. "N-no?"

When Kairi's grin turned into a smirk the blonde's nervousness increased tenfold. "It's so you can attach it to this." She tossed her cousin a tiny black rectangle; there were four buttons on it: unlock, lock, trunk and alarm.

The blonde paled. "Ohhh no…" Her big blue eyes stared down at the car remote in horror, shaking her head. _"Kairi…"_

"I got Geoffery and Takai to drop it off while you were sleeping," Kairi explained as she rose to her feet, pulling Naminé with her, "Plus, it's not _really_ a Christmas present - my dad kept this in the garage for you for months!"

"We paid for some of it," Ayame piped up from the kitchen, "So it's from us too."

"God," Naminé cried as her cousin pulled her to the front door. When she opened it her new car was waiting for her on the driveway; it was a light, shiny silver with a black removable top - a convertible. "Why...why?"

"Because you're my favourite cousin and I love you," Kairi smiled, tugging her closer to the car. When she opened the door the scent of fresh leather enveloped the blonde's senses, "And you deserve something nice."

"It didn't have to be _this_ nice," Naminé mumbled as she clambered into the driver's seat; the new car smell was inviting, she had to admit. "You could've gotten me a cardboard box with wheels and I would've been happy - actually, it would've been _great_ if you didn't get me anything at all, like we promised!"

Kairi giggled and pulled her cousin out of the car to give her a hug. "Too bad." They locked the car and reentered the house. "Merry Christmas, by the way."

"Oh," The artist hugged her cousin back with enthusiasm, "Merry Christmas to you too, idiot. You've done so much for me in the past few months, I really don't know how to owe you back for all of this-"

"I've told you a billion times before; you don't have to feel obligated to owe me back anything, and that goes for Sora, Riku and all our other friends too." Kairi shook her head in amusement. "It's what friends are for, Nami."

"The way I was raised, we usually owe back our friends when they get us cars for presents." She grumbled, and the redhead laughed.

"Naminé?" Her mother's voice echoed down the hallway. "You have one last present."

"Huh?" The girls exchanged confused looks. "I swear I got all of them…"

"Hm, weird." Kairi followed her cousin into the den and gasped at the tiny silver box lying underneath the tree. "It's so small - you probably missed it."

Naminé raised an eyebrow and knelt in front of the small present. The tag only had her name etched in fine handwriting; it did not say who it was from. She picked the wrapping off carefully, ignoring Kairi's words of impatience ("Why are you taking so long to open it?" "Hurry up, I wanna see what it is!"), and ended up with a grey velvet box.

"Ooh," Kairi leaned over her cousin's shoulder to look at it more closely, "This looks expensive."

The blonde pried the box open, revealing a silver chain with two oddly shaped silver pendants. They kind of looked like keys, but they did not at the same time. One had angel wings near the handle, and the 'key' part looked like a star. The other looked a little more ominous, with batwings and a somewhat axe-shaped head.

"What the heck are these?" Naminé asked, her voice barely a whisper as she fingered the strange pendants. "The detail in these things...it's so intricate."

"I'll say," Kairi agreed, "I wanna say they're keys, but at the same time I don't."

"I know what you mean," The blonde furrowed her brow in confusion, "And what's even more confusing: who would've given this?" When Kairi gave her a knowing look, she shook her head furiously. "No, no! That's impossible - why would he?"

"You mentioned before that he has a penchant for breaking and entering, right?" The redhead frowned as she wracked her brains, "These look like keys, and there's no name to show who they're from. Keys _and_ anonymity - it kind of all clicks."

"I dunno, Kairi," Naminé tugged on her hair, "He doesn't seem to...like me in that way anymore. In fact, I don't think he likes me at all."

"What makes you say that?"

"W-well," The blonde frowned, "When I left you guys at the clock tower two days ago I went to Sunset Hill, and he was standing there. It was the first time I've seen him since we came here."

"Did you talk at all?"

"No, not really. When he realized I was there he walked past me and left."

"Wow," Kairi scratched her head, "How cold of him."

Naminé shrugged to show her indifference, though on the inside she was feeling something very different, "It's okay. I'm not really bothered by it...not anymore. If this is what he wants, then it's what he'll get. I'm tired of feeling so frustrated and hurt all the time." She forced the lump down her throat. "He's of no importance to me anymore." _Liar._

The redhead nodded. "That's good to hear, I guess. There's no use in wasting your time anymore." She rose to her feet and stuck out her hand; her cousin grabbed it and stood up with her. "Anyway, Sora probably wants to see us."

"Yeah," The blonde agreed, "I have to thank him for his present, and maybe he'll know a thing or two about this necklace." She unclasped the chain and placed it around her neck; Kairi helped her clasp it back together. "If this really is from, erm, his brother he'll have to know at least a little bit of info."

"You have a point there." The girls donned their winter wear and began their short walk to Sora's house. Ven greeted them at the door with an exuberant 'Merry Christmas!' and even a hug. Sora came bounding down the stairs soon afterward, wearing a red shirt and dark blue jeans.

"Hey," He stepped forward to give Kairi a peck on the lips, "Merry Christmas to you both."

"Merry Christmas to you too, Sora." Naminé grinned as they moved to sit on the couch in the den, "Thanks for the charm and keychain - they're really pretty."

"Aw, it was nothing," The brunet laughed and rubbed the back of his head, his cheeks slightly pink from embarrassment, "Riku and I kinda worked together on the charm bracelet thing."

"We can tell," Kairi held up her wrist and the light from the ceiling caught on her charm bracelet, casting little dots of light along the walls, "How very creative and girly of the both of you."

Her boyfriend rolled his eyes. "You liked it and that's what matters."

Naminé began to toy with the key-shaped pendants. "Erm, Sora?"

"Yeah?"

She picked the pendants off her chest and showed him. "Do you know anything about these? It was a present from somebody...they didn't leave their name."

The brunet raised an eyebrow, clearly perplexed. "No, I don't think so. That's pretty weird, though."

The blonde handed him the grey velvet box and the tag with her name on it. "It came in this, and this was the tag thingy."

Sora's brow furrowed as he examined it closely; he turned it over in his hands, looking at it from different angles, and then he opened it. Suddenly his eyes widened. "I'm guessing you haven't found this?" He turned the box towards her and pointed inside; the fabric that was previously covered by the chain was emblazoned with a very faint 'XIII'.

"XIII?" Kairi frowned, "As in the gang?"

"Or Number XIII," The brunet added in a soft voice, "My brother's number in the gang."

"See," The redhead turned around to face her cousin, "I told you!"

"We're not sure of that yet," Naminé countered, though her cheeks were burning, "It might be a coincidence, like it can be the name of the jewelry store or something-"

"I doubt it," Sora shook his spiky head, "This has to be from Roxas," His fingers ran over the tag with Naminé's name on it, "I know what his handwriting looks like when he takes his time on it."

"Maybe you can ask him about it." Kairi suggested.

"I will, but not now," He replied, "He's out."

"There's no XIII to run around with," Naminé's hand was on her hair again, "So what does he do around here?"

"I don't even know," The brunet shrugged, "I guess he just wanders around by himself."

"Aw, how depressing," Kairi frowned, "If he wasn't being such an aloof jerk we could've been hanging out together."

"Yeah," Sora shook his head and reached for the remote, "Oh well. There's nothing we can do about it. He'll come around if he wants to."

"Yeah." Naminé agreed in a distant voice; she propped her elbow up on the armrest of the sofa and rested her chin in her palm. Her eyes drifted over to the window; it was snowing again. Sora and Kairi began to fight over the remote but by that time the blonde was already too far away to hear them.

--

_A/N: Nami's new car is an Audi S4 Cabriolet._


	18. So This Is The New Year

_A/N: And this, my friends, is why the rating must go up.  
Title is taken from Death Cab For Cutie's _The New Year.

_--_

**So This Is The New Year.**

Two days after Christmas it was time for them to return to the gated properties and McMansions. Since Naminé had her new car her parents did not have to drive all the way and back. They stuffed their bags into the trunk and waved goodbye as they cruised out of Twilight Town.

"I'm gonna miss this place," Kairi sighed as she reclined in the black leather seat, "Everything was so simple and close by."

"Maybe you can stay over for the summer," Naminé suggested, "Since Sora's gonna come back you should too."

The redhead leaned forward to turn on the stereo. "Yeah, that sounds like a great idea!"

"There's a lot to do in the summer too," The blonde smiled softly as she switched lanes, "There's Struggle tournaments and trips to the beach…"

"Ah, you're making my anticipation for summer even worse."

"Anticipation? We just had Christmas!"

"Shaddup." The drive was at least three hours long, so when they finally rolled into the Hinomoto manor the girls sighed in relief. Takai took Naminé's car and Geoffery helped them with their bags.

"Finally," The blonde breathed as she collapsed face-first onto her large, iron-framed bed, "That was a heck of a long drive."

"Looks like Sora's back too." Kairi held up her phone; her screen was showing a text message from the brunet. "He still can't get Roxas to open up about your necklace, though."

"For some reason I'm not surprised." Her blonde cousin muttered as her fingers fumbled over the key-shaped pendants. "So, about that party we're going to for New Years...how insane is it going to be?"

"When I said insane I meant _insane,"_ The redhead frowned as she moved to sit beside her, "A lot of drama usually goes down between people, whether it be so-and-so cheating on so-and-so or someone's dad's company swindled someone else's dad's company - y'know, typical teen stuff."

"Ah," Naminé nodded against her pillow, "I think I get it, minus the company swindling part."

"Of course stuff like this happens during school too, but at parties there's always stuff that help bring out the problems faster."

"Er, like what?"

"Typical things." Kairi gave her an enigmatic smile. "Just be smart and you'll survive."

The next few days passed by easily; the girls got to see Riku and everyone else again, and they hung out downtown and at Common Ground like they always did. Naminé also got to spend a day with Axel and they caught up with each other as they worked together on a blank wall behind an old record store.

"Thanks, by the way," Axel grinned as he shrugged out of his new leather jacket; he folded it carefully and placed it on the floor so the spray paint would not get it dirty, "This looks expensive, though. You didn't have to go all out."

The blonde shrugged and bent over to pick up another can. "I wasn't planning on buying anything big for myself anyway, so I might as well spend it on my friends. Plus, it was kind of bothering me whenever I see you walking around in this blasted weather with just a shirt."

He reached into his pocket and pulled out a white bandana with Naminé's name embroidered on it with black thread. He tossed it to her but of course she did not catch it, and he laughed as she watched it flutter gracefully to the floor with a defeated look on her petite face. Blushing, Naminé gathered it into her hands and stared at it with curious eyes. He chuckled and pulled his own bandana over his mouth, turning back towards the wall. "I know it's a little late, but you never told me you were gonna get me anything."

"It's gonna get dirty!" Naminé exclaimed, gesturing to the wall, but he laughed again.

"It's supposed to, Naminé."

Her thin fingers ran over the embroidery. "But it's too pretty to be used like this."

"Well," The redhead smirked, "Since it's just white, maybe with a little paint you can add some colour to it."

"That's one way to look at it, I guess." She giggled as she folded it and tied it around her neck; the front flapped over her strange necklace and her eyes widened. She reached underneath her new bandana and showed him the pendants. "Hey, do you know anything about this?"

"Eh?" Axel turned around and squinted at the silver pendants. "What the hell are those?"

So he did not know. Frowning, Naminé released her hold on the pendants and returned to the wall. "I got it as a Christmas present, but the person who gave it to me didn't leave their name. Sora thinks it's from...erm, his brother."

"What makes him think that?"

"It came in a small grey box, and inside the number XIII was etched into the fabric thingy." The blonde pressed down on the spray can and moved her arm patiently around the sketched pattern on the wall, colouring it in. "Sora said that the tag with my name on it was his handwriting too."

"XIII, you say?" Her friend chuckled and shook his head. "It's definitely from him, then. We usually leave our numbers behind when we don't want to use our names."

Naminé's frown deepened and her free hand moved to her curl of hair. "That doesn't make any sense, though. He's trying so hard to avoid me, yet he decides to get me a Christmas present?" She shook her head, though she was tugging harder on her hair now. "Honestly, he needs to make up his mind."

"I tell him that all the time, but being the blockhead that he is he doesn't listen to a word I say." Axel chuckled as he reached for a black spray can, "In general Roxas is very hard to read, but he makes it look so easy - reading people, I mean."

Memories of the beginning of the school year flickered across her memory and she forced down the aching in her throat by swallowing. "I-I know what you mean. He always seemed to know what I was thinking, and he sometimes he even knew what I was feeling too."

"Anybody can figure out what you're feeling, Naminé," Axel laughed and her head snapped in his direction, "You blush as much as you breathe!" When Naminé's already pink cheeks darkened to a ripe red he laughed even harder. "See what I mean?"

She pulled her bandana so high up the only parts of her face that were visible were her forehead and eyes.

The last day of the year finally arrived; as usual Naminé and Kairi were scrambling back and forth between each other's rooms, trying to find something to wear.

"Since you're the new girl you need to make some kind of impression," Kairi said as she hopped into her cousin's room; she was trying to talk, walk and pull her heels on at the same time, "So make sure you pick out something pretty!"

"It's been a few months now - I don't think I'm seen as the new girl anymore." Naminé emerged from her closet wearing a pale, creamy sea-green sundress and strappy white sandals. "What do you think? Is this okay?"

"Okay? It's great!" Kairi's phone began to ring and she pulled it out. "Hey, you're here now? Great, we'll be out in a bit." She snapped her phone shut and stuffed it back in her clutch purse. "Sora's here."

The girls donned their jackets and raced down the stairs as quickly as they could in their heels; Naminé hardly wore them because her clumsiness simply did not compute with the dreaded things, but she could not find anything else that went with the dress so she had no choice. Since she was not used to wearing heels she was stumbling all the way from the bottom of the staircase to Sora's car.

"Why do I have a feeling I'm going to regret wearing these?" She grumbled as she stepped into the backseat, nearly tripping for the umpteenth time.

"You'll get used to it." Kairi laughed as she buckled her seatbelt.

"Why do we always agree to go to Selphie's parties?" Sora was rubbing the back of his head as he rolled out of the roundabout, "The same things happen every time."

"Well, what else are we going to do?" The redhead shrugged, "We might as well."

"We could've easily stayed over at someone's house and celebrated ourselves." Naminé suggested, and Sora 'yeah-ed' to agree with her.

Her redheaded cousin scoffed. "Bo-ring. Plus, you need to experience Selphie's parties. Trust me, it's something you have to see at least once."

"That's true," Sora chuckled and shook his head at some old memory or an inside joke, "Memories are always created at Selphie's parties, good and bad."

"Interesting," Naminé mumbled, her eyes drifting towards the window, "Do we know anybody that's gonna be there?"

"Duh - everyone from school, of course," Kairi replied, "Including Olette and them, and Tidus and Wakka. Riku and his Somerset friends are going to be there too."

"I even think a few members of The XIII are gonna be there," Sora added, "My brother was getting ready for something before I left." He drove up a slight incline; in the distance the paved pathway opened up to what looked like the largest mansion in the entire gated community. The setting sun behind the house added to its perfection, its fading orange glow trickling across the snow surrounding it. The brunet drove past the house towards the garage, where more than twenty cars were parked in front of it. Some looked just as expensive as Sora's, and some looked like they were bought from a used dealer or even a junk yard.

"Wow," Naminé gaped as she stepped out into the cold, "It looks like a lot of people are here."

"I swear she invites half the city's population every time she throws something." Kairi chuckled as the threesome made their way out of the garage and towards the front of the house. Music boomed from the other side of the double doors and the laughter and chattering of people could also be heard, "Okay, if we lose each other we all have our phones, right?" When Naminé and Sora nodded she nodded too. "Alrighty, let's go." She pushed the doors open.

The lights were off when they stepped in, but there were flashing strobe lights and moving spotlights doused in different colours wavering in and out of Naminé's eyes, enabling her to see...somewhat. She caught some familiar and unfamiliar faces as she moved through the crowded foyer, wondering where the lights were coming from. The booming music was so loud she could feel it pulsating in her ribcage, outperforming her own heartbeat. She pushed through the crowd, keeping her eyes trained on Sora's recognizable spiky hair. He led her and Kairi upstairs to an empty room at the end of the long hallway.

"We'll keep our jackets here." Sora said as he shrugged out of his coat; he was wearing a brown golf shirt with thin horizontal baby blue stripes and dark blue jeans. "This way we won't have to search for them later."

"Good idea." Naminé threw her jacket on top of his, and Kairi followed suit. "So, er, we just go down there and dance...or something?"

"You're acting as if you've never been to a party before." Her cousin laughed, and she blushed.

"Do I look like the party type?"

Kairi's face fell. "True." She led the way out of the room and back down the stairs, melting into the crowd once more. The redhead looked over her shoulder and gave her cousin a reassuring smile before shoving forward. Minutes later Naminé ended up in a somewhat less crowded room; people were reclining on couches with drinks in their hands. The gigantic flat screen television mounted on the wall was playing a hip hop music video.

"Finally," The artist swiped her forehead with the back of her hand, "My lungs were getting crushed back there." She glanced left and right, noticing that Sora and Kairi were nowhere to be found. Her hand moved to her hair. "Great, just great." She scanned the people lounging around on the l-shaped couches, only to discover with dismay that they were all unfamiliar faces. Tugging on her hair so hard her head was jerking backwards, she wandered aimlessly around the vast room, trying to find something to do or somebody familiar to talk to - whichever came first.

Her eyes caught a flash of silver and her head immediately turned in the direction it came from; Riku was chatting with a few guys she did not recognize. Relieved that she finally found somebody, Naminé began to walk towards him, careful not to stumble over her heels, but then a stranger stepped in her way.

"Drink?" A gangly boy with bad acne was holding a red plastic cup filled with what looked like Coke. Naminé eyed the drink skeptically, but at the same time she kind of wanted it; she was feeling a little thirsty…

"Erm, there isn't anything in it...is there?"

The boy laughed. "No date rape. Promise." He passed the cup over to her and disappeared. The blonde peered into her drink with a raised eyebrow and then looked upwards; Riku was already gone. Her baby blues returned to her drink and she sighed, her shoulders sagging.

"Dammit." She held the drink up to her mouth and sipped; it tasted like plain Coke to her. Shrugging, she moved out of the room and into another, only to find more unfamiliar people holding the same red plastic cups. She looked down at her own cup, only to find that she had already drained it; was she really that thirsty?

"Oh, hello!" An unfamiliar voice unexpectedly shrieked into the blonde's ear; Naminé slowly turned around to face a girl with caramel brown, flipped-out hair and hazel green eyes. She was wearing a bright yellow dress that was a little too short and she was wobbling slightly; the drink in her hand was sloshing to the point where some of it was splashing onto the floor. "You're Naomi, right?"

"Naminé," The artist corrected her, suspiciously eyeing the girl's unsteady stature, "But you were close."

"Oh, oh! Sorry - Naminé, yeah, that's your name!" The girl threw her head back and exploded into a peal of squealing laughter and Naminé had to cover her ears so they would not hurt. "I'm pretty sure you know who I am - I'm Selphie! We have Math together, and this is my house! The very room you're standing in...it's my house!"

"Yes, I kind of got that when I walked in," Naminé smiled kindly, trying to hold in her laughter, "You have a lot of guts to throw big parties like these all the time."

"Ohh, it's nothing-" Selphie playfully swatted at the blonde's shoulder with her free hand; she moved so quickly that some of her drink almost spilled on Naminé's dress, "-I...I bet...I bet you never had parties like THIS before, w-wherever you're from!" She eyed the blonde's empty cup and gasped. "Oh, you're finished with your drink? Here, lemme take that - I'll get you another one!"

"Er, no, I think I'm good-" But Selphie had already snatched the cup out of her hands and skipped off. Unsure of what to do, Naminé stood awkwardly in the centre of the room with her arms swinging by her sides and her mouth curved into a nervous grimace. Seconds later Selphie came back and pushed the refilled cup into her hands. "You really didn't have to, you know-"

"No, no! Don't...don't be like that - you're my, my, uh, my guest! Yeah, that's the word!" The brunette hiccuped, then grinned toothily and spun around, her drink slopping all over the floor, "Aaaanyway, I'm gonna continue my rounds. I'll see you in Math, Natalie!" She was already gone before the artist could correct her. Sighing, she moved towards the next doorway with her full cup.

This room was where all the music was coming from; a guy from her English class was behind the DJ booth, switching from CD to CD. He was surrounded by gigantic speakers, the kind she thought would look more appropriate in a rock concert rather than a living room. Kids were clumped together on the wooden floor, moving and swaying to the music. There was one couple dancing with their hips practically grinding together, and their mouths seemed to be permanently attached to each other. Feeling somewhat disgusted, Naminé turned around to return to the previous room. She automatically sipped at her drink; again she did not taste anything other than Coke.

She found an unoccupied spot by one of the sofas and moved to sit on it. She looked around the room and continued to sip her drink, wondering what she was supposed to do next.

"Ooh, look who's here," A girl sitting next to her was whispering to her friend; out of curiosity Naminé turned towards the doorway to see who the girl was talking about, and she nearly dropped her cup.

A few members of The XIII had just walked into the room, cutting off the little strings of conversation in an instant. Axel was in front, grinning his usual mischievous grin; he was wearing a black sleeveless shirt and black jeans. He was flanked by Xion and Demyx, who were also wearing black. Zexion, who clearly looked like he did not want to be there, was standing beside Demyx; he was clad in black like the others.

"Is this the party pooper room?" The redhead chuckled and crossed his arms, "Nobody's doing anything here."

Naminé did not feel like seeing him at the moment, so she pushed her bangs over her face and hid behind her cup, gulping down some more Coke. She watched them circle the room slowly, as if they were searching for someone.

"This is boring," Larxene squeezed out in between Demyx and the pyromaniac; she was wearing black like the rest of the gang members. She frowned and glanced left and right. "What the hell do I have to do to get a drink around here?"

"Calm down, Larxene." Roxas appeared from behind Xion; he was the only one that wore something else with his black outfit: he was wearing black jeans and a black dress shirt with the sleeves rolled up, but he also had a white suit vest and a white tie. He rolled his eyes at his female companion and his hand moved upwards to ruffle his blond spikes. The sight of him made Naminé's cheeks flare up; she immediately held her drink up to her face to hide herself, but when she glanced into her cup she noticed it was already empty.

Weird, she did not think she was _that_ thirsty. She stood up, but then she suddenly lost her balance and toppled back onto the sofa. Her face felt warmer than usual, but she shrugged it off, assuming she was just blushing from embarrassment. She glanced upwards to look for Axel and Roxas but they had already left. Sighing in relief she attempted to stand up again; this time her limbs worked in her favour and she tottered over to another room. After some wandering around she found herself in the kitchen, which was also crowded with kids. There were rows of red cups sitting on the counter and she gladly grabbed another, swigging it with ease; the fizziness of the Coke no longer fazed her and she drained her cup within seconds. After another two cups her vision was beginning to blur, and if she stared at something for too long the room would begin to spin.

"Hey!" She turned her head and noticed that a few people she did not know were beckoning her over to the kitchen island. Feeling ridiculously giddy for some reason, she grinned and stumbled towards it. There were two cups on the table, both filled to the rim with a dark gold liquid. A boy with too much gel in his hair turned towards her. "Do you know how to play flip cup?"

Naminé hiccuped and shook her head. "N-no, but...but I can learn." For some reason when she spoke she could not hear herself, so she had to raise her voice a little.

"Cool, cool - okay then, the rules are pretty simple," The guy gestured towards the cup closest to her, "All you have to do is chug your beer, and then you flip your cup until it's right side up. Whoever does this first wins. Got it?"

She nodded and glanced at her opponent across the table; it was a guy from her History class.

The boy who explained the rules stood by the side of the table and eyed the both of them. "Alright, on the count of three - one, two, THREE!"

The blonde hastily grabbed her drink and threw her head back as she dumped the contents of the cup into her mouth; it tasted bitter and horrible, and there was a bit of a barley-esque aftertaste. She could hear the people surrounding her cheering and whooping as she slammed her cup on the table, catching the bottom underneath her fingers. She flicked upwards and watched the cup flip expertly into the air, landing gracefully back onto the table with the rim pointing upwards. She punched the air with both fists and yelped a victory cheer; everyone copied her seconds afterward.

"Wow," A girl from behind gaped, "She's really good."

"I think that's, like, a world record or something," Another girl agreed, "She did that all under, like, five seconds."

"I wanna go again," Naminé blurted out, and everyone cheered in response.

Three rounds later (she won all of them) the kitchen was filled with people chanting her name and the rhythmic banging of their fists against the counters. Naminé was hunched over her empty cup, her face perpetually red and her hair plastered to her face. She was grinning stupidly around the room, awing at her admirers.

Suddenly she felt someone grip her upper arm. _Hard._ "H-hey, what're you-"

The person pulled her out of the crowd; she heard the people 'ooh' and jeer as the stranger tugged her out of the kitchen. Her captor pulled her up the stairs and into an unused guest bedroom; when they stopped walking she squinted at the stranger and realized that it was Roxas. Months of not speaking and interacting boiled inside of her, and her hands tightened into fists.

"What are you doing?" He asked sternly, like a father scorning his child, "Do you even-"

"No," She cut in; she was fluctuating between a normal speaking voice and yelling like she could not hear herself, "I'm THROUGH with listening to you! It's time for YOU to listen to ME! Just...just WHAT the hell do you-" She hiccuped, "-t-think you're DOING?! You push...push, PUSH me away, t-then pull me in, and then p-push me...push me away a-AGAIN, and then you pull me...PULL me in again! W-why can't you...you make up your damn m-MIND already?!"

"Naminé," Roxas addressed her calmly; it had been so long since she heard him say her name but the effect it had on her shocked her just as much as it did the first time she heard it, "You're drunk. _Very_ drunk. Sit down." He reached for her, but not wanting to give in so easily she backed up against the wall.

"N-no, no, NO!" She cried frantically, skimming against the wall towards the door, "I've...I'm thrrrrough w-w-waiting for YOU! I'm so s-SICK of feeling...feeling so confuuused ALL the...all the TIME…" Tears sprang into her eyes and they trickled down her red face. Her voice weakened and her shoulders began to tremble. "Why...why can't you j-just tell me that...that it's over, i-instead of teasing me...teasing me with l-little hints like these?" She showed him the key-shaped pendants and he cringed. "Why...why can't you just s-stop? Just...just stop..."

The pain reflecting in Roxas' eyes was real enough to almost break through her defenses; he stepped towards her very slowly, but with every step he took she sidestepped closer towards the door. "Naminé, please, let me explain-"

"I don't _want_ to hear...to hear a-anything!" She screamed, and he stepped back in surprise, "L-leave me alone, Roxas, p-please. Y-you were...were right. It's better...b-better this way." She wrenched the door open and stumbled back outside, not even bothering to look behind her. She managed to descend the stairs without making a fool of herself, but when she reached the bottom everything began to spin again, and she had to hold onto the railing to support herself. Groaning, she furiously swiped the tears away and walked clumsily from room to room, searching for anyone - Kairi, Riku, Sora, Olette, anyone really, just as long as it was not Roxas.

She found herself in the same room she was in earlier, the one with the big television and the l-shaped couches. By now the room was spinning so fast she could not see properly, and she collapsed on the nearest couch. The bibble-babble of random conversation gathered in her ears and it did not help with the spinning; she closed her eyes and pressed the back of her head against the couch, trying to focus, but it was not working. Everything felt like it was in constant motion, and for some reason she felt very warm.

She decided to get up again, which was a really bad decision on her part. When she stood up the spinning returned and she felt her way through the blurriness, knowing that she probably looked stupid to anyone sober.

"Hey," She felt someone's hand on her upper arm, but its grip was different than Roxas'; this was more painful and aggressive instead of steadying and concerned, "You look like you need some help."

That gruff male grunt was definitely familiar but she could not put the voice to a face. "W-who are you?"

"C'mon," She could hear the smirk in his voice, and he tugged her harder. She decided that she did not like the sound of his voice, and the iron grip on her upper arm was not helping either. She squirmed uncomfortably under his grasp, trying to wriggle away.

"Let...let go of me-"

"Shut up." Her eyes widened at his rude reply, and she planted her feet firmly on the ground. Though the world was still spinning and the only light source was a flashing strobe light she noticed that they had somehow ended up in the foyer, where the staircase was.

"Leave me alone!" Naminé gritted her teeth together and wriggled some more, but it was no use. The blaring music was so loud that even if she screamed she would not be heard or probably be mistaken for enthusiasm. The strobe lights were flashing too quickly for her to see his face properly, and she was too intoxicated to focus. He pulled her up the stairs and down the hallway, into the same unused room her and Roxas were in earlier - or maybe it was a different room, she could not tell the difference anymore. The moonlight leaking in from the window by the opposite wall illuminated the stranger's face, and she gasped.

"Leave you alone?" Seifer maliciously licked his lips as he pushed her against the wall; he gripped both of her wrists and forced them against the wall on either side of her head, "I don't think I have the heart to leave such a cute, vulnerable-looking girl like you all by herself." He eased himself against her, sliding his hips against her own, and she detested the feeling.

"G-get away," She protested feebly; her body was tired from struggling, and her strength was fading. Her calves and feet ached from being on her heels for so long and her knees were very close to giving in. She could feel Seifer's breath against her neck and she shivered, but for all the wrong reasons.

"Mm," He sighed against her and she could smell the alcohol in his breath, "Your stupid boyfriend is more irresponsible than I thought. First he takes you out for a date on _my_ territory, and now he leaves you in the middle of a party drunk and all alone." He removed his hands from her wrists and caught her chin in between his thumb and forefinger; he was pushing so hard on her jawbone she thought he was going to break it. The other hand moved to one shoulder; his thumb slid across the strap of her dress, pulling it off, and then he switched hands to do the same to the opposite side. He pulled her face closer to him, his lips dangerously close to hers. She could feel his free hand caressing the bare skin of her collarbone. "Very, very irresponsible." He whispered in a low voice; it would have been seductive if she wanted this to happen.

"Ngh," She pushed against his chest with weak hands, "G-get off - I don't...I don't want this, I don't-"

"Shut up." A loud smack reverberated across the room, and a fresh round of tears sprang into her eyes as her neck snapped to the side. There was a distinctive red mark smeared across her cheek, just underneath her eye.

By now she was too tired and terrified to move; she briefly thought about kicking him but before she made up her mind he grabbed her shoulders and dragged her over to the bed. He pushed her onto it and crawled on top of her, pressing his weight on her so that she could not move her her legs. She writhed fruitlessly under him, but the more she moved the more her body began to tire out, and the more tired she began to feel the closer she was to giving up entirely. She began to cry as she felt his hands wander all over her body, skimming up and down her arms and legs. He pulled down on the top of her dress and ripped the undergarment out, exposing her upper body to him, and she sobbed as his fingers and mouth ran over her, touching her, dirtying her.

After what seemed like years later he grew bored of working on one particular area and he moved to the next. His lips searched her skin belligerently, forcefully pressing against her neck and shoulders, but they never reached her mouth for some reason; it did not seem to be a point of interest for him. She was frozen underneath him, her eyes staring straight up at the ceiling and the tears constantly streaming. As time passed her body began to react differently; a strange heat began to stir inside her, stemming from her lower region. She bit down on her bottom lip to prevent herself from moaning; she did not like this at all, and she did not want him to get the wrong message.

"You're very quiet," He briefly glanced up at her and she read the lust in his eyes, "Why aren't you saying anything?" When she refused to answer, he smirked. "Don't worry, I'll make you talk. Hell, I'm gonna make you _scream."_

As soon as she felt his hands wander underneath her skirt she choked out a sob; she tried to push him away but he was much heavier and stronger than she was, and even if she tried digging her fingernails into his skin it only made him moan louder. She felt his fingers hook underneath the waistband of her underwear, tugging it further and further down. She sniveled as she felt his fingers wander from her inner thighs into forbidden territory; she clamped her eyes shut, dreading what was coming next.

Suddenly there was the sound of a door bursting open, and Seifer's weight on her magically disappeared. She opened her eyes and found him slumped against the wall, disorientated and groaning in pain. She bolted upwards, pushing her bra back into place and hastily pulling the straps of her dress back on at the same time. She blinked a few of her tears away, trying to see who her saviour was, and her eyes widened briefly when she found Roxas towering over her attacker. She shivered as she watched him toss Seifer out of the room; the anger etched all over his face was almost frightening. He slammed the door behind him and she curled up into a ball on the bed, sobbing and listening to the sounds outside. Their raised voices indicated that there was some sort of argument, and then there were the dull thudding noises of fists colliding with bodies and faces. The jeering of the audience was loud even from the other side of the door, but everything ended as quickly as it started and soon the booming music was all Naminé could hear again.

She sniffled and reached for her underwear on the floor. She pulled it back on, feeling incredibly violated and dirty. The door opened and she cowered, fearing that Seifer had defeated Roxas and was back to finish her off, but when she caught a glimpse of those unruly spikes the worst of the prickling fear died away. The moonlight shining on his perfect face revealed his anguished expression and suddenly all the drunken anger and frustration from earlier vanished.

"Naminé," His voice was nothing above a murmur and heavy with pain; he approached the bed slowly, hesitantly, unsure if that was what she wanted him to do. She gazed at him longingly through her tear-blurred vision; as much as she did not want to be touched at the moment she craved him, and she did not want him to leave. There was nobody else in existence that she wanted right now except for him.

She sniffled again and held her arms out towards him, the ache for him pulsating inside of her. He got the message; he sat beside her on the edge of the bed and wound one arm around her waist and the other underneath her legs, lifting her onto his lap. His arm slipped out from under her legs and moved around her shoulders; his hand was gently pressing her head into the crook of his neck. He shifted so that his back rested against the backboard.

"R-Roxas-" She stuttered in between sobs; she wrapped her thin arms around his upper body and closed her eyes against his neck, breathing in the cologne she missed so much. She was shaking violently, totally and utterly traumatized.

"Shh," He hushed her and kissed her forehead; his fingers gently pulled through her hair, "It's okay, Naminé. I'm here. I'm here now."

"H-he," She whimpered, "He almost...he a-almost-"

"It's over now. He's gone. He's not coming back - everything's going to be okay." It sounded like he was trying to convince himself rather than her, "He's not going to hurt you anymore," His tone was strained, like he was trying to fight back tears. He squeezed her and nuzzled his head against hers, just like how he used to, "I won't allow it."

The after-affects of the alcohol were beginning to settle in now; the haze of fatigue pushed down on her eyelids but she was afraid of falling asleep - what if she woke up the next morning without him? He held her for a few minutes more, and then he started to shift around, as if he was preparing to leave. She tightened her hold on him and pressed her trembling body against his. "D-don't go." Her voice was muffled against the silky fabric of his vest.

"I'm not going anywhere." He murmured against her hair, and he kissed her forehead again, but this time his lips lingered on her skin just a few seconds longer than before. She sighed and nestled into his embrace, letting sleep take over her. Soon afterward he began to sing softly in her ear; he was whispering that same song he played for her on the piano in that theatre so long ago, the same song he played for her on the guitar at his house.

She felt his lips against her forehead for the third time before she completely slipped away.

--

_A/N: Yeah, I didn't expect the story to take such a dark turn either...but that's where it went and I'm gonna have to find a way to cope with it...  
I felt terrible after writing that...Naminé's one of my favourite characters, and it hurts me to see her hurt =( I'll try and make it up to her in the next few chapters!  
I have to admit, though - drunk Naminé was pretty entertaining.  
_

_Some of the music playing during the party: _Eat You Up _by BoA, _She Wants To Move _by N*E*R*D, _Elements of Life _by Tiesto and _Move For Me _by Kaskade. The hip hop music video that was playing on the TV was Lupe Fiasco's _Superstar.


	19. Chase

**Chase.**

The sun shone sharply through the window and casted a painful glare on every part of the room. It streamed red underneath Naminé's eyelids, forcing them open and she groaned, throwing one arm over her eyes. She felt like she had been hit with ten trucks in a row; her head was pounding and her limbs ached. Her throat was dry and her stomach felt like it was twisted into a thousand painful knots.

She shifted to roll on her side, but when she did so it only made her stomach lurch. Moaning, she dragged herself out of bed and raced to the bathroom, heaving over the toilet. There was nothing in her stomach, so she was not really throwing anything up; her throat ached as she retched nothing but air. After a few minutes her painful gagging finally stopped and she rested her cheek against the cool porcelain bowl, sighing as her temperature lowered somewhat.

Suddenly her eyes popped open - wait a minute, this was _her _bathroom. She glanced downwards and noticed that she was still dressed in the same sea-green dress from yesterday, the one she would probably never look at the same way ever again.

She crawled back into the main room and realized that she really was in her room; she eyed the baby blue walls and the shiny computer with suspicion as she rose on weak legs. She stumbled over to the bed and crawled into it, pulling the covers over her sore body. Everything about her was hurting: her throat, her arms, her legs, her back, her head, her dignity, her self-esteem...

There was a knock at the door. "Nami?" Kairi's voice was shy and muffled against the wood, "Are you awake?"

"Y-yes," The blonde croaked; it hurt so much to talk, "Come in."

Her beloved cousin emerged from the other side of the door with concern etched all over her petite face. "Oh, Nami," She clambered into bed beside her and wrapped her arms around her, burying her face into her hair, "I'm so sorry - it was my idea to go to that stupid party, and-"

"Not your fault," Naminé forced her tired vocal chords to work, "You didn't do...anything wrong." She pressed down on the mattress with her palms and pushed herself into a sitting position; Kairi stuffed some pillows behind her back to support her. "Ugh…"

"Here," The redhead reached for a tall glass of water sitting by the bedside table and tipped it into her mouth, "Drink lots of water; trust me, you'll feel better before noon." When the blonde indicated that she had enough to drink Kairi set the glass back down on the table. "I still can't believe it...Seifer, ugh. I'm so glad Roxas came to you in time."

The water helped her throat a lot; she was able to speak a little louder. "Roxas…" She remembered falling asleep in his arms and the song he hummed in her ear, and her hand slowly inched towards her necklace. "He...he was with me before I passed out, wasn't he?"

"Yeah, he was," Her cousin smiled sadly, "He did a lot for you last night."

Naminé clutched a pillow to her chest. "I d-don't remember..."

"We were all there when he fought Seifer," Her cousin explained, "And after it happened Sora and I ran upstairs to look for you and Roxas. When we found you guys you were already knocked out, so we carried you into Roxas' car and then we all drove here." She scratched the side of her head. "He was pretty shaken up about it; he kept beating himself up over what happened."

The blonde's hand moved from her necklace to her hair. "What...kind of things was he saying?"

"He kept telling us how this was all his fault, and how his mistakes lead to you almost...y'know." Kairi hesitated and her eyes shifted to the side for a split second. "He looked so hurt over what happened to you; it made me want to cry."

The artist sighed and pressed her mouth against her pillow, feeling strangely lonely. "H-he said he wasn't going to leave…"

"At first he didn't want to, but then for some reason he changed his mind in the end. He told me to watch you, and then before he left he told me to tell you that you were right," Kairi's brow scrunched in confusion, "Whatever that meant."

"I was right…?" Naminé frowned as she wracked her pulsating brain for an explanation to his words. She plummeted through her fuzzy memories of last night but nothing was clear enough to recognize. Everything except Seifer and Roxas was blurred out and inaudible; ironically, it was like trying to watch a movie drunk.

"Ugh," She felt her stomach groaning and she reached for her water again, "I can't remember...I can't remember a thing."

"Don't force yourself, Nami," Her cousin instructed gently, "It'll come back to you eventually." She scratched her head. "Whatever you said, though, it must've been before Seifer."

She coughed and grimaced as her chest rang with pain. "W-what do...you mean?"

"I doubt you guys would've had time to do anything after Seifer."

"Good point." The artist sighed and tugged on her flick of hair. "Besides Seifer a-and...Roxas I just...remember being really, really drunk."

The redhead chuckled softly. "If only I was there to see your flip cup awesomeness...I heard you rocked that!"

"Flip...cup?" Naminé pulled harder on her hair, and then her eyes lit up with recognition. "Oh yeahhh...I remember...remember playing that-" She coughed again, "-game; I don't know if...if I should feel proud that I w-won all of them...or embarrassed." She groaned and released her pillow to hug her knees to her chest. "If...I can only remember what h-happened between-" She coughed, "-me and Roxas...then maybe I'll...I'll have a reason for feeling so horrible."

"Aw, Nami," Kairi enveloped her cousin in another hug.

"Y-yesterday was a nightmare. If..if it weren't for him-" She turned her head away from Kairi at the right time as another cough escaped her lips, "-I'd still be completely t-traumatized - I-I mean...I'm still disturbed by what happened, but he took the worst of it away when...when he came back." She sighed and shook her head before coughing again. "My frustration over him o-overpowered my need for him...and then something...like this happens and it h-hits me full in the face."

"Erm," She heard her cousin hesitate, "What are you trying to say?"

Naminé was quiet for a very long time. She inhaled slowly and pulled away from her cousin to look at her properly; her face was very red and she was staring at her lap. "I...I think I'm, er, ugh," She shook her head and her cheeks reddened even more, "I can't...even bring myself to say it - i-it's too cheesy."

As she expected the redhead snorted and covered her mouth with one hand. "Aw," She choked out in between her attempts to hold in her laughter, "You're completely, wholeheartedly, irrevocably, undisputedly in lo-"

"N-NO!" The artist waved her arms frantically in the air like she was trying to signal a plane, and then she coughed again, "Don't...don't say it!" When Kairi finally burst into laughter the blonde groaned and lowered herself onto the mattress; the pulsing pain in her head worsened and she clamped her eyes shut. "W-why does...does everything have to be so complicated?"

"I don't see what's so complicated," Her cousin shrugged, "You're in-"

"Don't," The blonde interjected and Kairi rolled her yes,, "I-I wasn't talking about that anyway - I meant how _he's _acting." She coughed into her fist. "He...he's here for a moment, then I b-blink and he disappears. Months pass and he's...he's comforting me, t-telling me everything's going...going to be okay, singing me to sleep...and then w-when I wake up the next morning-" She coughed, "-he's g-gone again."

Kairi shifted so that she was sitting against the backboard. "You said he _sang_ you to sleep?"

Naminé gestured for her water, and her cousin placed it in her hands. After another hefty gulp she handed it back to her cousin. "Y-yeah," She blushed, "It's funny 'cause…'cause everything else that happened that n-night is blurry and h-hard to remember, but for some reason when you mentioned...his name...I suddenly remember - v-very clearly too - w-what happened after the whole...the whole Seifer incident." Her eyes and voice grew distant as she thought back to last night. "He...he wasn't sure if I w-wanted him to come near me because...well…y'know...but he eventually u-understood that I needed...needed him and he just held me." Her cheeks grew warm and her eyes wandered around the ceiling. "He told...he told m-me things, like how S-Seifer was gone and h-how he wasn't going to let him...hurt me anymore, a-and then he began to sing to me. I fell asleep soon afterward."

"Aww," Kairi cooed, He's so sweet to you, but I wonder what you were so right about?"

"I have no idea," The artist frowned, "B-but it must've been bad, because it made...him leave last night."

"Maybe you can ask Axel about it," Her cousin suggested, "He might know a thing or two." She stood up and pulled the covers over the blonde "You go back to sleep now; that hangover's not gonna go away anytime soon if you don't."

"I'm...never drinking again," The artist groaned, "Or at least n-not for a very long time. H-hell, I didn't even _know_ I was drinking a-alcohol - it tasted like...like plain Coke!"

"Rum and Coke are very deadly when combined." Kairi grinned as she made her way towards the door. "Sweet dreams, Nami." She closed the door softly behind her.

Sighing, the blonde rolled on her back and closed her eyes, but the moment she did so the image of Seifer's sneering face flashed before her and she bolted straight up, shaking her head and rubbing her eyes with her knuckles. The feeling of his rough fingers pressing against her body came back and it made her skin crawl. She scrambled out of bed and raced to the bathroom, pulling her dress over her head. She stared at the dress in dismay; she really liked it, but it was now just a sad reminder of what happened the night before.

She cranked the shower to as hot as it could go without it being painful; the feeling of burning water running across her skin was soothing but it did not wash away the tainted, grungy feeling. She scrubbed furiously with her pouf, trying to force Seifer's touch out of her, but it was no use. She cried out in frustration and threw the pouf aside, pressed her forehead against the glass wall and squeezed her eyes shut. Her body began to convulse again and she lowered herself into a corner of the shower, hugging her legs to her chest and burying her face into her knees. The sound of his haggard breathing, the feeling of his hot breath against her skin, his fingers forcing themselves into her, the unwanted heat burning inside - the terrible, terrible memories came bleeding back into her memory and she clutched her head, trying to suppress them. She felt her eyes sting with tears and she cried in agony, her small shoulders heaving with sobs.

After showering she wrapped a towel around herself and gazed into the mirror, eyeing the dismal blonde staring back at her. There were two bruises on her jawline, each just about an inch or so away from either side of her chin, and the skin on her body had several red patches from her frantic scrubbing. Her big blue eyes were glazed over with tears, and the corners of her pale pink mouth sagged downwards in a frown. Various purple and maroon bruises were dotted along her collar bone, shoulders, neck and upper arms; her fingers unconsciously moved upwards to skim across them. The biggest bruise, however, had to be the one smudged underneath her eye, from where he slapped her. She looked so sad, so broken.

After a very long time she crept out of the bathroom and changed into her usual spaghetti-strap top and short shorts, though she briefly thought about changing into something looser because the feeling of anything, even clothing, chafing her skin made her feel filthy and impure. She crawled feebly into bed, her head still pulsing. The muscles in her limbs were screaming, warning her that they were close to breaking point, and when she collapsed face-first onto the mattress they seemed to sigh with relief. Even after showering and putting on a fresh set of clothes she still felt dirty, defiled and rotten. She was afraid of falling asleep, knowing that Seifer's simpering face was waiting for her in the catacombs of her memory.

_Think of something different, _her mind instructed, _Think about something that makes you feel better. Think about Roxas._

It was ironic how the name that used to cause her so much pain was now the only thing that distracted her from something much worse. Naminé's shuddering ceased little by little as she drifted from Seifer's forced, bruising kisses - was it even proper to call them that? - to Roxas' gentle, subtle ones. She remembered the warmth of his embrace and how right it felt as the contours of their bodies eased perfectly into one another. She thought about him and only him: she pictured the unkempt spikes of his hair and wondered how they would feel in between her fingers. She envisioned his dark, dark eyes that reminded her so much of the night sky stretched over Sunset Hill. She imagined his lips against her ear, humming the same song over and over again. Heat began to stir inside her again but it was not the same feeling from yesterday; instead of an unpleasant burning it was a comforting haze, almost like it was glowing - she was standing by the fire instead of being engulfed by it. It enveloped her, ridding her of the pulsing in her head and the aching in her limbs, and for a second she swore she could smell cologne but she shook it off; she was probably growing delusional from her trauma. The Roxas in her head was still singing to her, and she subconsciously fingered her necklace as she slipped quietly into unconsciousness.

When Naminé woke up hours later she realized with relief that her head was no longer hurting, her throat was back to normal, she no longer felt nauseous and the stabbing pain in her joints had weakened to a tolerable aching. She swung her legs over the side of the bed and stretched her arms, yawning and shaking the remains of sleep away. She made her way into the bathroom and stared into the mirror; because she fell asleep with wet hair it dried oddly and it looked even messier than usual. She sighed and turned the sink on, bending over to wash her face. After freshening up she returned to her room and found her phone sitting on her bedside table. She gaped at the long list of missed calls and text messages her friends had sent her last night. She dialed Riku's number since he called her the most, next to Kairi and Sora.

"Naminé," He picked up after only one ring, "Are you okay? Did they bring you home safely? Is-"

"Riku, Riku, _Riku,"_ She had to call his name a few times to get his attention, "I'm alive. There's nothing to worry about."

"Thank God," His voice relaxed, "I was trying to get a hold of you all night-"

"I can plainly see that," Naminé laughed a little sadly, "But there's nothing to worry about now - I'm okay."

"I got the authorities involved," She heard him grit his teeth, "But I doubt they'll be able to do anything about it; it's hard to catch a gang leader."

"You didn't need to do that, Riku," She assured him, "But thanks anyway."

"I'm so glad you're okay," He sighed, "We were all so worried about you. As much as it irks me to say this, I owe Roxas one."

"You're not the only one who does," She smiled grimly, "I owe him my life."

"You should rest, Naminé," He told her, "You had a, er, rough night. I'll talk to you later, okay?"

"Alright - thanks, Riku." She hung up and sighed as she scrolled down the endless list of text messages; though they were from different people they all had the same message, asking if she was okay and whatnot. She punched in an _'im ok, u dont have 2 worry abt me, thx tho'_ and forwarded it to all of her friends. As soon as she was finished her phone vibrated in her hand and she nearly dropped it in surprise. "H-hello?"

"Hey kid," Axel's voice came in from the other line, "How are you holding up?" His voice was warm with concern, and she held back a laugh. "What?"

"You," Despite her not-so-great mood she giggled, "I never knew you were such a softie, Axel."

She swore she felt her phone heat up in embarrassment for him. "What else do you expect me to feel? _Happy?_ C'mon, Naminé, I'm not heartless!" He sighed. "But I guess you're okay if you're able to laugh like that."

"I'm not great," She answered honestly, "Not even close, actually, but I'm managing."

"That's good to hear, er, I guess," He replied, "Are you cured of your hangover yet?"

"Kind of - my body's still kinda feeling it but it's not so bad anymore." She hesitated for a moment. "Um, what are you doing right now?"

"Nothing, why?"

"D'you...d'you mind if we hang out? Just for a little bit?" She asked shyly, her free hand wandering towards her hair.

"I dunno, Naminé - you need your rest, and-"

"I've rested enough for today," She answered him firmly, "And I want to know some things that you most likely know the answers to."

He sighed in defeat. "Fine, fine, but I'm picking you up."

"I'm perfectly capable of driving!"

"I know you are," She could almost hear him rolling his eyes, "But I want to pick you up. Got it memorized?" There was the groaning sound of him getting up from a worn leather seat. "I'll see you in ten minutes." The line went flat and she exhaled sharply. She understood and appreciated the fact that everyone was concerned for her, but at the same time they did not need to treat her like a child.

She stormed into her closet and pulled out a white hoodie and jeans. After changing she stepped into a pair of sneakers and wriggled into her peacoat. She knocked on Kairi's door to inform her that she was going out (of course her cousin advised her not to, but she ignored her anyway) and descended the marble staircase. The moment she opened the double doors she spotted Axel's grumbling truck by the curb.

"I can't believe the gate people let me in with this," The redhead smirked as she clambered into the passenger seat, "I thought they were gonna think I'm some lunatic or something."

"As long as you state your purpose with truth then they don't mind you coming through." Naminé shrugged.

"Ah, that's probably why, then." He shifted gears and drove out of the roundabout. "So what are these things that I most likely know the answers to?"

"Well, for starters, what happened between Roxas and Seifer last night?" She asked innocently, and she blinked when he groaned and pressed his cheek against the window.

"Do I have-"

"Yes, you have to answer it whether you like it or not." She pointed to herself. "I have the right to know - I was the victim in all of this!"

He scoffed. "The victim, tch...why do I have the feeling you're going to abuse that title for the rest of the day?" He sighed and briefly turned around to switch lanes. "Can we at least wait 'till we get lunch?"

"This again?" She sighed and flopped backwards against the seat. "Fine - you're lucky I'm a bit hungry."

Some time later they arrived at the usual ramen shop, and Ken was there to give them their regular orders (he was polite not to comment on Naminé's less-than-ordinary appearance). As the steaming bowls of soup were placed in front of them Axel's brilliant green eyes searched her face, pausing on the two bruises framing her chin. His stare narrowed when he finally stopped on the larger one underneath her eye.

"Bastard," He spat as he reached for his chopsticks, "He's gonna get what's coming to him."

"We're eating now," She reminded him, keen on shifting the subject from her bruises to something else, "So get on with your explanation."

He rolled his eyes. "I always knew Selphie's parties were whack but I never actually _went_ to one. It was actually Roxas' idea to go, which is kinda weird 'cause he isn't the party type, especially to big ones like last night."

"Roxas' idea?" She frowned. "Why on earth would he want to go?" When Axel stared back with dull, 'you've-got-to-be-kidding-me' eyes, she blushed. "No way."

"What other reason could he have? I guess he just wanted to look out for you or whatever, though I don't see why he needed the rest of us to go with him." Axel hunched over his bowl and swirled his chopsticks around, watching the noodles follow them.

"What do you mean?"

"An hour before the new year I was out back having a smoke, and then he calls me, telling me what was going on. Obviously I got pissed off, so I run back inside with the intention of helping him out, but being the chivalrous young man he is he tells me to back off 'cause wanted to do this on his own." He scoffed and stuffed a wad of noodles into his mouth. "Honestly, what was the point of calling me in the first place?" He muttered after swallowing.

"Did...did you see him after it happened?" She asked quietly as she picked at her food.

"Yeah, I just saw him this morning, actually. He's in pretty bad shape even though Seifer wasn't even close to touching him," Axel scratched his head and his expression grew uneasy, "He was really worried about you. He still is."

Naminé released her chopsticks and began to fiddle with her hands. "I-is he gonna be okay?"

"I hope so - I'm probably gonna check in on him later this afternoon." The redhead frowned, "He's in a completely different mood from the last time I saw him. He was way off his rocker last night when he found out about Seifer - I've never seen him so angry. He was really going at it; Demyx and I had to hold him back at one point because it really looked like he was going to kill him," His voice darkened a bit, "Though if it _did_ happen he would've deserved it." He shook his head and his voice returned to normal. "I wouldn't be surprised if Seifer's in the hospital right now." His frown deepened as he reached for his glass of water. "When I saw Roxas this morning he was the exact opposite: he was really pale and it was obvious he didn't get any sleep. He was shaking so bad he had to sit down. I think he was even crying."

A lump formed in the blonde's throat. "Oh…" She could not think of anything better to say.

Axel shook his head at the sad memory. "He kept telling me, _'She was shaking, Axel, she was shaking so bad, even in her sleep - I didn't know how to make it stop.'_ He kept saying it over and over, and the way his voice sounded...I'm never going to forget it." His hand moved towards the back of his neck. "To be honest, he seems more affected than you at the moment."

She pictured Roxas uttering the same words Axel quoted for her, and an uncomfortable contracting feeling made itself present in the centre of her chest. Suddenly she did not feel so hungry anymore. "Roxas…" She murmured, her eyes lowering to her soup. She felt the tears coming, and she swallowed hard.

"You mean everything to him, Naminé," Her redheaded friend told her gently, "Despite of what you may think."

"Why does he keep doing this to me?" She cried, her voice cracking under the weight of her tears, "He gives me clear signs that he feels the same way, but just when I think everything's going to end up the way it's supposed to he disappears!" Her hands balled into fists and she shook her head violently. Soon afterward, however, her voice died down considerably and her hands relaxed. "I need him, Axel - I need him so much right now, but he's always so far away."

"He's, er," The pyromaniac hesitated, "Okay, I don't really know what to say to make you feel better at this point 'cause there really isn't anything left _to_ say. It's pissing me off too, the way he just keeps popping in and out like that. It isn't fair - especially in this situation, where you clearly need somebody for support."

"Don't get me wrong," She glanced up at her friend through tear-glazed eyes, "I'm not angry at him - I'm not angry at all, actually. I'm through with feeling so negative towards him...it didn't get me anywhere." She sighed shakily and rubbed her eyes with her knuckles. "I...I think I'm in…" Her cheeks heated up and she shook her head, unable to finish the sentence.

"Don't force it out of you," He chuckled, though his smile was apologetic, "I get it. As much as I know you're going to tease me for this it hurts me a lot to see you in such a predicament, and I want to help you get through this. You're my friend, Naminé - I want to see you happy."

"Aw," The artist smiled through her tears, "You really do care."

Axel groaned and covered his reddened face with his hand. "I knew you were going to say something stupid like that."

"Okay, now onto the next question - when I woke up this morning Kairi told me that Roxas told her to tell me that I was right." Her tendrils of platinum blonde hair twisted around her pale fingers. "Do you know what that means?"

Her face fell when her friend shook his wild red head. "No, no idea. Sorry."

"Oh," Naminé frowned, "It's okay..."

By now the both of them had sort of lost their appetite, so they spent the next ten minutes finishing up whatever they could. As they clambered back into the truck an idea struck the blonde and she turned to face her friend.

"Erm, you said you were going to visit him after this, right?" The pyromaniac nodded as he cranked the key into the ignition. She hesitated and pulled on her hair. "Is...is it okay if I come with you?"

It was Axel's turn to hesitate, but after a few seconds he shrugged it off. "I don't see what the harm is," He replied casually as she beamed up at him, "It'll probably do the both of you some good anyway. Lemme call him first." He pulled out his phone and dialed Roxas' number. After eight rings he cancelled the call. "Hm, weird. I told him I was dropping by later…"

"Maybe his brother knows where he is." Naminé reached for her phone and searched for Sora's name on her contact list. After three rings he picked up. "Hey Sora."

"Naminé!" He sounded relieved, just like Riku and Axel. "I'm so glad you're okay-"

"Thanks," She muttered through gritted teeth; she was getting tired of hearing the same thing - it made her feel weaker than she already was, "Um, do you know where your brother is?"

"Yeah," The brunet replied, "He's finally sleeping. He was up all night and this morning."

Normally that would have killed it, but today Naminé was grinning. "Oh, even better. Do you mind if I drop by for a bit?"

Sora sounded confused. "Um, sure, if you want. I'll answer the door for you."

"Great, see you in a bit." She stowed her phone away and glanced up at her redheaded friend. "He's sleeping."

"Oh, that's good to hear," Axel rubbed the back of his neck as he backed out of the parking lot, "So I guess we don't ha-"

"No, I still want to see him." She said firmly, and he gaped at her.

"What? What good is it if he's not even conscious?"

"It's better if he isn't." She said quietly. Axel raised an eyebrow, but he shrugged it off and turned his attention to the road. Fifteen minutes later they arrived at the Katsura manor.

"You go on ahead - there's no point in me checking up on him if he's sleeping." Axel waved her off. "I'll wait for you right here."

She rolled her eyes. "I can walk home - it's five minutes away from here."

"I said I'll _wait_ for you right here." He repeated sternly, and she sighed in defeat.

"Fine, Dad." She poked her tongue out in between her lips and he made a face in response. She turned on her heel and made her way towards the door. Like he said, Sora answered it. He cringed at the bruises on her face.

"Naminé," He started softly, but she shook her head and smiled.

"I'm fine, Sora," She assured him, "Don't worry about me. I just want to see your brother."

"Upstairs, last room on the left." The brunet pointed towards the glass staircase, and she hugged him.

"Thanks for helping me last night, by the way." She said as she pulled away from him. He grinned and rubbed the underside of his nose with his index finger.

"Don't mention it - it's what friends are for."

She ascended the stairs slowly, the corners of her mouth quivering with nervousness as she stepped gingerly onto the glass steps - why, oh why did everything in this damned house have to be made out of glass? She stared down the narrow hallway, noting the door at the very end. She made sure to turn the knob slowly, careful not to make any noise.

The walls were painted a deep navy blue and the thick curtains had been pulled lazily over the wide window at the far side of the room. She would have imagined Roxas to be a neat person, but the moment she glanced down at the floor she was proved wrong. There were clothes and loose leaves of paper strewn all over the dark grey carpet, and there were even some guitars lying here and there. Out of curiosity Naminé bent over and picked up one of the pieces of paper sitting by her feet. She stared at the odd lines, numbers and illegible chicken scratch for a few seconds before letting it flutter back down to its position on the floor, obviously not comprehending the logic behind them. She glanced ahead of her and spotted the bed by the opposite wall, smiling when she caught a faint glimpse of her favourite untidy spikes protruding from the edges of the wrinkled sheets.

"There you are," She murmured, "I was wondering where you went."

Anxiousness prickled inside of her as she neared the bed. When she was close enough her eyes widened at the blond sprawled out on the mattress; Roxas was stripped down to nothing but a pair of white boxers. Her cheeks a furious shade of red, she covered her face with her hands, trying to suppress her embarrassment.

"Dammit, Roxas," She groaned through her fingers, trying to keep her voice low, _"Why_ do you have to sleep half-naked? _Why?"_ She inhaled deep and eased herself onto the mattress, watching him breathe. Her uneasiness over his almost entirely exposed body washed away when she took in the sight of his face; he was frowning, and his eyes were clamped shut like he was dreaming of being pinched or pricked with a pin. Now that she thought about it, it always looked like there was something on his mind, like something was constantly bothering him. She reached out towards him, hesitantly at first but she mustered all of her courage and finally touched him, tracing his spine and awing at the muscles carved intricately into his back. She ran over the muscles in his arms and her brow scrunched together at their tautness.

"Relax," She whispered to him, "There's nothing to worry about." Somehow he seemed to understand what she was saying and his shoulders visibly deflated. She smiled softly. "There, much better."

Her fingers worked through his hair and she smiled again when she realized that it was as soft as she imagined it to be. He relaxed under her touch; his brow slackened and his mouth stretched into a serene smile. His expression was almost childlike, and she could not help but giggle quietly to herself.

"You're so weird sometimes."

He shifted around a little, rolling onto his side. She lowered her body onto the mattress so that she was lying beside him. She buried her face into his neck and nuzzled her head against him, breathing in his cologne. The same warm, glowing feeling she felt earlier engulfed her once more and her heart began to race; she also began to feel a little lightheaded.

"Look at what you're doing to me," She muttered into his ear, "Sometimes I wonder if you're doing this on purpose." Her arm found its way around his stomach and she pressed her cheek against the back of his shoulder.

"Y'know, I'm getting tired of chasing after you," She sighed, closing her eyes against him, "When are you gonna stop running, Roxas? You're gonna have to tire out eventually…"

He mumbled something inaudible before rolling around again, this time on his back. She drew away immediately as he moved, watching him throw an arm over his eyes. Her blush returned when her eyes wandered to the perfection of his chest and abdomen; he was built, that was for sure, but he was lean at the same time - perfect, as always. As her eyes traveled downward she swallowed hard when she noticed how low his boxers were riding on his hips, and the glowing feeling inside of her burned brighter. Shaking off her distracting thoughts, she leaned in again and pressed her lips against his cheek.

"Fine," She smirked against his skin, "I'll leave you alone." She moved to the side so that her lips were brushing against his, and she pecked them quickly before backing away. Grinning to herself, she cleared the bangs out of his eyes before lifting herself off the bed and tiptoeing out of his room.

"Did you get a chance to talk to him?" Sora asked curiously as Naminé emerged from the staircase looking quite relaxed and satisfied.

"Yep," She beamed at her friend as he opened the door for her, "I said what I needed to say."


	20. I Don't Mean It

**I Don't Mean It.**

The rest of the holidays passed with ease, much to Naminé's relief. Because of Seifer it was always a bit of a battle to fall asleep nowadays, but after a few minutes her imagination would shift over from him to Roxas and she would be knocked out in minutes.

The good thing about thinking about Roxas before falling asleep was that he made her feel relaxed, comfortable and safe, and just the thought of him always put a smile on her face. He was the greatest distraction from her Seifer-centric nightmares.

The bad thing about thinking about Roxas before falling asleep was the fact that most times - not _all_ the time, but _most - _her perverted mind would conjure up weird yet oddly satisfying fantasies. If she was lucky they would be sweet and subtle; sometimes it would be just her and him enjoying a day together, interacting with cute gestures like hugging and quick kisses on the cheeks and lips, but this rarely happened. Oftentimes she dreamt of him in his bed with those white boxers of his pulled dangerously low on his hips and the firm muscles of his arms, chest and back stretched over his bones, and it always ignited that same burning feeling in her lower abdomen. Every time this happened she shuddered, but she was not sure if it was from disgust or - dare she say it - pleasure?

She shifted around in bed, her legs twisted around the sheets and her arms wound around her pillow. A thin sheet of sweat was spread across her forehead and her long eyelashes were quivering as she dreamt of him for the umpteenth time. It would have looked like she was having a nightmare if not for the somewhat disturbing smile hovering over her lips.

_She gasped slightly at the sensation of his cool fingers running along the dip of her spine, and she arched against him; he moaned against her neck as their bodies pressed harder against each other, their curves fitting into place._

_"Mm," He rumbled against her and she closed her eyes against his matted hair, "I like the sound of that."_

_Her eyes fluttered half-open. "T-the...the sound of what?" The tingling sensation coursing through her sweat-ridden body made it difficult to speak._

_She felt his skilled hands move around her again, this time trailing from her back to her abdomen. His index finger circled her navel and she shivered, closing her eyes once more. He gently pushed her against the soft mattress and lowered himself on top of her, groaning as their stomachs kissed. His hot lips ghosted across her collarbone and neck, kissing slowly, and when he puckered against the sensitive spot right behind her ear she arched her back again and inhaled sharply._

_She felt him grin against her heated skin. "That."_

Her loud alarm clock rang painfully in the blonde's ears, scaring her awake. She yelped in shock and tumbled out of bed; she tried to grab onto the mattress to hold steady but she ended up holding onto the sheets, and they came crashing down onto the floor with her. She pushed herself through the sheets and stood up slowly, placing her hand over her heart; it was beating rapidly, and her sweat-drenched hair was sticking to her red cheeks. She shook her head, ridding herself of the remains of her dirty thoughts and made her way towards the bathroom, deciding that a cold shower will do some good.

It _always_ has to end when it starts to get better…

After showering she bumbled into her closet and dressed for school. She sighed as she stared miserably into the full-length mirror, fingering the faint bruises on her chin. They were almost gone, but the big one under her eye was still kind of obvious. She had been trying to prepare herself for the first day back because she knew she was going to be the subject of gossip, but now that the day had finally arrived she did not feel so ready anymore.

"'Morning," Kairi greeted her when they met in the kitchen; she eyed her cousin's dismal expression and she frowned. "What's bothering you?" She passed the cereal but Naminé refused.

"I'm not hungry, and school is what's bothering me," The artist replied sadly, "Everyone's gonna stare and talk and-"

"Ah, don't let that bother you," Her cousin scoffed, "People are always looking for something to talk about. They can be so insensitive sometimes." She jabbed her spoon into her cereal. "Don't worry about it, Nami - if anybody talks bad about you the rest of us will handle it."

"Thanks, Kairi." After breakfast they left the mansion; Takai had Naminé's car parked by the curb. He tossed her the keys, but of course they slipped through her fingers at the last minute and they hurtled towards the ground.

"People always forget that I'm coordinately challenged." She muttered as she circled the car to the driver's seat. Kairi stepped in shotgun as she stuck the key into the ignition.

"So, are you sleeping okay now?" The redhead asked, her voice slow with concern.

Naminé's mind immediately flashed images of the dream she had before her rude awakening, and she flushed. "Y-yeah, well...it's still taking me awhile to fall asleep, but I'm sleeping nonetheless."

She inwardly sighed when her cousin did not seem to notice her flustered expression. "That's good to hear," Kairi smiled and she smiled back, "You're doing really well without any kind of professional help. You're stronger than you look - I don't mean that in a bad way, of course."

She flushed again, but this time it was from embarrassment. "I try not to let it get to me so much," Her shoulders deflated and she moved to shift gears, "But whenever it does I think about Roxas and everything's okay again." Her lips thinned as she curved out of the roundabout. "D'you think he'll show up today?"

"Well," Kairi started, "It's the first day back so I assume so. Is he the reason why you're not booking sessions with a shrink?"

The image of a boxer-clad Roxas blinked furiously in the blonde's mind. "Er, yeah…" She swallowed hard and tried to concentrate on the road, "Just the thought of him...it makes everything else go away."

"Hopefully he'll be here today." When Naminé reached the student parking lot she noticed with dismay that the dark grey BMW was nowhere to be found.

January weather was bitter and cold; the short walk from the parking lot to the SS Wing left the girls' noses and ears numb and their cheeks red.

"I want spring to come _now," _Kairi complained as they approached her boyfriend; she ripped the scarf away from her face and wriggled her nose, trying to get the blood flowing again, "I'm so sick of winter."

"Can you believe we're almost halfway through the year?" Sora rubbed the back of his neck, "End of term exams are in a week and a half!"

"Ugh, don't remind me," The blonde groaned, "I haven't started studying yet."

"I'm getting sick of these classes anyway," The redhead shrugged, "A new semester will do us some good. New faces, new subjects…"

Naminé's heart sunk at the possibility of not having Roxas in any of her classes next semester. Her hand moved to her necklace. "Y-yeah, I guess so."

"C'mon," Sora jerked his thumb towards the stairs, "We better head to homeroom." He leaned forward to peck Kairi on the lips. "See you at lunch." The blonde followed her friend up the stairs, trailing behind more than usual. When Sora noticed her lagging movements he stopped walking and glanced over his shoulder. "Hey, is something wrong?"

The artist's fingers moved from her necklace to her curl of hair. "Erm," She stuttered nervously and Sora's head tilted to the side in confusion, "I-is your brother at school today?"

Her face fell when the brunet shook his head. "He hasn't been feeling so great," He frowned, "I think he's still kinda shaken up over what happened to you."

Naminé's brow scrunched together. "What do you mean?"

"He hasn't slept from the time you came over, and he's holed himself up in his room doing who-knows-what," Sora rubbed the back of his neck, "I can't get him to open up; I haven't seen him in days, and I live with him!"

Worry prickled inside of her and her hand tugged harder on her hair. "I feel so bad for doing this to him. I wish there was some way I can make him feel better."

"I thought you talked to him when you came over that day." Sora said skeptically as they resumed their walk up the stairs.

The artist's cheeks flared up and her eyes widened. "N-no, not really. He looked so peaceful sleeping...I didn't want to disturb him."

The brunet still looked unconvinced. "You were in there for a pretty long time."

Naminé's cheeks reddened even more. "What are you implying?"

Sora shook his head. "N-nothing." He sighed and rubbed the back of his spiky head. "I'll see you at lunch, Naminé." He made his way towards his homeroom, and she groaned to herself as she walked towards hers.

Just as she expected, the moment she walked into History the other students immediately broke into hushed conversation.

"Yo, check out that bruise."

"I heard Roxas kicked Seifer's ass so hard that he's a paraplegic now."

_"I _heard that after Roxas was finished with him Seifer had a sex change and fled the country!"

"No, no - the real story is that Seifer was _so_ traumatized after Roxas confronted him that he vowed to correct his mistakes and is now studying to becoming a monk!"

"She owned me in flip cup…"

She felt their eyes slide over her as she walked awkwardly through the rows of desks, and everyone fell silent for a few seconds when she finally sat down. She felt self-conscious as she bent over to pick her books out of her bag, and she shamefacedly hid behind her binders. The lecture started soon afterward, much to her relief, and everyone's attention turned towards the front of the class. The last half was a study period so the conversation picked up again, and the blonde kept her face hidden behind her books as they continued talking.

Math was not very different but at least Kairi was there. The redhead glared around the room, striking fear into the other students. They immediately fell silent and turned away from each other, leaving their stupid thoughts and theories to themselves.

"So," Kairi turned around to face her blonde cousin, "Roxas didn't show up?"

Naminé shook her head and looked up at her. "No…" She subconsciously wrapped her arms around herself and pressed her cheek against her desk, "Sora said he's in bad shape. He hasn't been sleeping properly, and he's isolated himself even more than he used to. This is all my fault."

Her cousin frowned. "It is so not your fault," She reached forward to rub the blonde's shoulders, "Maybe you can try calling him later. I'm pretty sure he wants to hear from you."

"If he wants to hear from me why can't he just call me himself?" She tugged on her hair. "I don't get him sometimes."

"That's just the way boys work, Nami," Kairi smiled grimly as she reached for her books, "We'll never be able to figure it out."

When lunch came Naminé did not feel very hungry, so she gave her lunch to Sora. She propped her elbow up on the table and leaned into her palm, her eyes glazing over the cafeteria with disinterest. She glanced at the groups of friends laughing together, the couples sharing their lunches with one another and the few faces she faintly remembered seeing at Selphie's. She noticed some students looking in her direction, and when she turned to look at them they immediately looked away and bent their heads together for more hushed conversation. Rolling her eyes, she returned her attention to her own group of friends.

"At least drink something, Naminé," Olette prodded gently, "You need something in your system."

The blonde shook her head and smiled softly. "No, I'm alright. Don't worry about me."

"Nami," Kairi chided, "You need your strength. You didn't even eat breakfast this morning - in fact it's been awhile since you've eaten _anything."_

Frustration licked at her insides and she exhaled sharply. "I'm not a kid, you guys. Cut it out already!" She spat, and everyone backed away in surprise. When she noticed their shocked expressions she shook her head and sighed. "Look, I'm sorry - it's just getting a little annoying when you guys hover like that. I mean I appreciate it and all but really, I'm okay. Don't worry so much."

"It's hard not to worry so much when you're not acting like yourself, Naminé," Pence pointed out, "You haven't been eating and you've been awfully quiet."

The blonde's hands curled into fists. "It's hard to act like myself when I'm trying to get over the fact that I've almost...almost…" Her eyes began to water and she shook her head furiously. "And the idiots in class talking about it, it's not helping either," She looked up to glare at Sora, who was staring back in disbelief. "And the _one_ person I need most is nowhere to be found...yeah, it sounds pretty freaking easy to act like myself right about now!" She stood up abruptly. "Ugh, I need some fresh air."

She heard her friends calling after her but she ignored them; she stormed over to to the SS Wing and grabbed her peacoat, forcing her arms through the sleeves as she stomped down the stairs. She briefly glanced towards the parking lot, but then she realized that she did not have anywhere to drive to. Instead she spun on her heel and headed towards the soccer stadium. The chilly air bit her ears and nose as she crunched through the dreaded snow, reddening and irritating her skin. The bleachers were icy so she had no choice but to sit on the very last step. Her eyes began to prickle again and she felt the tears escape, running down her frozen cheeks and staining her scarf. The harsh wind blew against the wet skin and she felt even colder than before. She picked her phone out of her pocket and searched for Roxas' name on her contact list. She waited, listening to the dial tone ringing in her ear, and after nine rings she cancelled the call.

"Idiot," She hissed as she glared at the screen, "Why can't you be here right now?" She sniffled and wiped the tears away with the back of her hand. "I need you, I need you so much...you make everything go away…"

The bell for next period was going to ring soon so she briskly walked back to her locker to return her outerwear before hurrying to the Arts Wing. When she spotted Sora and Hayner sitting nervously by their desks guilt washed over her and she frowned.

"Erm," She sat down in between them and gave her friends an apologetic smile, "Sorry for lashing out...earlier. I didn't mean to - I'm just so frustrated with everything, and it's really hard…"

Hayner's expression relaxed and he shrugged. "No sweat - we'll probably never understand what you're going through right now, but we want to help you get through it. If you need your space, just tell us."

"It's better than waiting until you explode, at least." Sora grinned sheepishly, and she flushed. "I guess we have to apologize too-"

"N-no, no you don't," Naminé shook her head, "You didn't do anything wrong. You guys...you're always there for me, and I keep pushing you away. With all this stuff happening it's hard for me to appreciate what you're doing for me, and I'm sorry." She pushed the tips of her index fingers together and stared down at her lap. "I'm such a bad friend."

"No you're not!" Both boys exclaimed at the same time, and she laughed softly.

"Thanks, guys."

School passed quickly afterwards, but at the end of the day when she was by herself in her room time seemed to freeze. She tried calling him again, but like she expected he did not pick up. She wandered around her room, trying to clear her head but practically _everything_ reminded her of him. She eyed his blazer hanging over her chair and she cringed. She scrambled over to her desk and turned her music player on but it only played songs that reminded her of him. Painting and drawing did not help either since she would probably end up covering every single canvas and page with images of him. She briefly contemplated on whether she should talk to Kairi or not but she figured she was busy with her studies, and plus she had bothered her enough about him anyway.

Nighttime somehow came, and she sighed in relief as she pulled the sheets over her small body. However, when she closed her eyes for the night Seifer appeared before her and the creepy-crawly feeling of his touch returned. Her eyes flew open and she bolted upwards, shaking her head and burying her face in her hands. Taking a deep breath she lowered herself back into bed, closing her eyes slowly. She imagined dark blond spikes and deep, deep blue eyes; her body relaxed as she felt his touch, his lips, his body against hers…

The next morning she woke up visibly refreshed - even Kairi noticed it when she walked into the kitchen.

"You're looking a little better today," Her cousin commented. Unable to help herself, she raised a sly eyebrow and smirked. "I bet I know why."

Flushing, Naminé slowly turned to face her. "W-why?"

The redhead laughed as she dug into her cereal. "You were thinking about a certain somebody before you went to sleep last night."

The blonde's cheeks heated up even more, and Kairi laughed louder. "I-I can't help it," Naminé mumbled, staring dismally at her fumbling hands, "If I don't think about him before I sleep I start thinking about...y'know." An unwanted tremor ran up and down her spine when she thought about it. "Roxas...Roxas makes me feel better. He always does."

Her cousin shrugged. "Well, as long as you're not thinking about anything inappropriate then I guess it's fine with me." When her cousin's face reddened even more her eyes widened. "Oh God - don't tell me…"

"Like I said, I can't help it!" The artist groaned, pressing her cheek against the cool granite counter, "Ever since that day I came over-"

"Whoa, wait a minute," Kairi raised an eyebrow, "When did you _come over?"_

"Er, I guess I didn't tell you," Naminé sat up straight and began to pull on her hair, "Um...remember the day after you-know-what happened, I told you I was going out with Axel?"

"Yes…"

"Erm, well afterwards I persuaded him to drop me off at the Katsura manor for a bit because I wanted to see Roxas," At this point the blonde's entire face was a ripe red, "But when I got there he was sleeping."

"What's so bad about that?"

"W-well I just wanted to see him, so I went up to his room-"

"You went into his room while he was _asleep?_ How kinky of you-"

"Shut up," Naminé clamped her eyes shut and she forced the lump down her throat, "Anyway, when I went inside I found him…" She trailed off and pulled harder on her hair.

"Found him…" The redhead fluttered her hands, gesturing for her cousin to continue.

The artist exhaled slowly. "Asleep. In bed. In nothing but his boxers."

There was a faint tinge of pink spread across the redhead's cheeks, and she covered her gaping mouth with her hands. "Oh my."

Her blonde cousin groaned and buried her face in her hands. "And...as embarrassing as it was-"

"You liked it?" Kairi interjected, and when Naminé nodded she stifled a giggle. "Wow, I can't believe it; my innocent little cousin-"

"I'm three months older than you-"

"-fantasizing about half-naked boys in bed-"

"Okay, time for school!" The blonde raised her voice to drown out Kairi's as she dragged her cousin away from the kitchen, pulling her out of the mansion and into the car. When she forced her seatbelt into its buckle Kairi was laughing hysterically.

"See," Naminé muttered as she stabbed the key into the ignition, "The reason why I was hiding this from you was because I _knew_ you were going to react like this."

Her cousin's expression softened, though her shoulders were still trembling with restrained laughter. "S-sorry, Nami," She inhaled deep, trying to rid herself of the giggles, "I'm just not used to you acting like this. Okay," She breathed in again, "I'm taking it all out now." She visibly relaxed and turned to grin at her. "There, all gone."

The artist raised an eyebrow at her, unconvinced. "Are you sure?" When Kairi snorted she groaned and pressed her forehead against the steering wheel.

"Nope."

Kairi was still laughing about it when they met Sora inside the SS Wing. She stopped laughing, however, when they spotted the apprehensive look on the brunet's face.

"You look a little tense today," The redhead stepped forward and laced her fingers with his, "What's wrong?" When he shook his head, she sighed. "Alright, but we're talking about this later."

He was quiet as he walked to homeroom with Naminé, but she did not have the heart to ask what was wrong.

Before heading to History she decided to stop off at her locker first to gather a few things. As she turned away from her locker to make her way to homeroom her clumsiness kicked in at just the right time; somehow she managed to trip over something - whatever that was, she would never find out - and she gasped as she lost her balance, closing her eyes as she felt her body tumble forward. Seconds passed and she still did not feel the pain of falling face-first onto the hard floor, and she opened her eyes and discovered that she was still on her feet. It was only now that she felt a firm grip on her upper arm.

"Watch your feet, Naminé," A familiar voice crooned, its tone light with amusement. Her heart began to hammer painfully against her ribcage as she turned her head to see Roxas smirking back at her; there were dark circles under his eyes and his clothes looked more wrinkled than usual. The instant they met eyes the image of him sleeping in his boxers flashed through her mind and her cheeks darkened.

She swallowed hard as his hand left her arm. "Er," Her hand automatically moved to her hair, "Thanks."

"C'mon," He nodded towards the door to their class, "Class is going to start soon."

It was nice to see him actually interacting with her again but at the same time she could not help but feel skeptical. Her eyebrow was raised as she followed him towards the door.

She was grateful for what he had done for her on New Years but the sudden mood change was a bit odd, even if she was slightly ecstatic that he was talking to her again. He somehow felt her eyes on his back and he stopped walking. "What is it?" He was looking at her with innocent eyes, and it grated against her nerves.

She crossed her arms.. "So," She shifted to lean on one leg, "Lemme get this straight: every time you decide to exclude yourself from my life I just have to get myself into a highly traumatic situation to get you to come back?"

He blinked at her. "What are you trying to say, Naminé?"

Kairi's words from a very long time ago echoed in the blonde's head:

_"He'll come crawling back eventually, and he'll bawl about how he's been so stupid and how he made such a big mistake in leaving you. When that happens, kick him where it hurts the most and tell him that it's his fault for making such stupid decisions, and that if he wants you back he'll have to _earn_ it."_

"Look," The artist sighed, "You practically saved my life that night and I can't possibly think of a proper way to owe you back-"

"You don't have to owe me anything-"

_"-but_ even though I'm eternally grateful for what you've done I can't forget the hurt you've caused me." She cut him off and she could not help but feel a little superior inside when she saw the bewildered expression on his face, but at the same time there was an aching growing in her chest. "You knew how I felt about you, and I know that you knew that I didn't care if you were in some stupid gang, but you disregarded my feelings and left me anyway," She swallowed the lump that had formed in her throat. "And after the whole Seifer incident you told me you weren't leaving, but when I woke up the next morning you were nowhere to be found." Her eyes narrowed. "If you think you can come back and expect things to just pick up where they left off then you're sorely mistaken."

For once he was the one that was at loss for words. " Naminé, I-" He hesitated for a moment before sighing and brushing his fingers through his hair. "I'm sor-"

"You should know by now that a simple apology won't suffice." Since when did she have the potential to be so mean? Kairi was definitely rubbing off of her.

The corner of his mouth twitched and she could tell she was pushing him. "I know...it's not even close, but-"

"But what, Roxas? Are you going to try and make up for lost time? Are you going to stay for a week or two and pretend nothing's happened, and then suddenly you'll make up some stupid excuse to disappear again? C'mon-"

"Can you at least let me speak one full sentence?"

"That was a full sentence right there."

His hands tightened into fists. "Naminé, I understand how you feel-"

"Oh, do you now?" She walked past him and purposely bumped her shoulder against his. She motioned towards the door and smiled sweetly. "Class is starting - we better go in now."

He cursed under his breath and wrenched the door open for her. She had to admit that a part of her - and she did not know how dominant that part was - wanted to face him and tell him that she did not really mean to _be_ mean, and that she actually really wanted things to go back to the way they were, but Kairi was right: he had to atone for his mistakes somehow.

As soon as they walked into class together the other students immediately bent their heads together and began to whisper amongst themselves. Naminé rolled her eyes at their stupidity as she brushed past the rows of desks; when she sat down she noticed that Roxas was sitting at the desk beside hers. He gave her his usual mischievous grin and she huffed as she bent over to pull her books out of her bag. During the lecture they did not talk at all, and though she felt relieved for it she could not help but feel a little disappointed at the same time.

When class ended she did not wait for him; she briskly gathered her things and left class without even looking over her shoulder.

"Wow," Kairi had to suppress a giggle when her cousin explained everything to her during Math, "You're really making him pay, aren't you?" She scratched the side of her head with her index finger. "But didn't he kind of make up for everything when he kinda, I dunno, saved your life?"

"Yes," Naminé replied when Roxas entered class looking quite dejected and sullen; she lowered her voice so he would not hear her, "But he killed it when he didn't keep his word. I told him not to leave me, and what happens when I wake up the next morning? He's done his disappearing act yet again!" She scoffed. "And what the heck was his reason for leaving this time?" She deepened her voice in a surprisingly impressive imitation of the sulking blond sitting at the desk a couple of rows behind her. _"She was right."_

Kairi could not hold in her laughter this time. "I guess your reason's valid enough." She briefly turned around to look at Roxas, whose head was on his desk. "Aw, but he looks so heartbroken."

"Or maybe he's just really tired," The blonde shrugged, though she could not help but feel a little guilty, "It still looks like he hasn't been getting enough sleep."

Mr. Sekigawa stood up from his desk to address the class. "Today will be a full study period; don't forget that your final is next Thursday!"

The artist sighed as she reached for her calculator; Math was not one of her greatest subjects, and she was kind of worried about the exam. She was not failing the course but that did not necessarily mean she was doing great either.

"Maybe you should ask Olette for some tutoring or something," Kairi suggested, "She's a whiz at this - she's a whiz at everything, actually." She stood up and brushed off her skirt. "Be right back - gonna use the bathroom."

As soon as Kairi left the room the scraping sound of a chair moving against the floor was heard; Naminé rolled her eyes as Roxas appeared at her cousin's desk.

"What is it, Roxas?"

"I know you're mad," He kept his eyes buoyantly trained on her, watching for any sudden mood change, "And frustrated, and tired, and upset and I understand why - believe me, I do." When her expression did not change he sighed. "Just...just let me make it up to you somehow."

"Ironic how you're so eager to stick around when months ago you told me that this wasn't going to work."

He cringed at her words, but he continued anyway. "Can we start over? Please? We can start from the very beginning - I'll even reintroduce myself if you want me to." His eyes were beseeching and it tugged on her heartstrings.

"We never really had a formal introduction in the first place, you know." She quirked an eyebrow at him.

He hesitated for a moment, and then stuck out his hand. "I'm Roxas Katsura. It's nice to meet you."

She stared at his hand for a few seconds, bemused. When she finally grabbed it she felt her fingertips tingle; she suppressed a shy smile when she eyed the adorable expression on his face. "I'm Naminé Hinomoto - it's nice to meet you too, Roxas." His eagerness to fix their mangled relationship was cute, she had to admit. Sighing, she finally decided to give in - just a little bit. "Well," She started, gesturing to her math work, "Maybe you can help me study for finals."

His eyes widened. "Like a tutor, you mean?"

She smiled. "Yes, that's exactly it."

He exhaled slowly, relieved that she was finally cooperating. "Okay, I'm fine with that, but since we only have so many days I'm afraid we're going to have to spend every day together until the exam." The Roxas she remembered and missed began to resurface when the all-too-familiar smirk began to curve on his lips.

Normally that would have been pushing it but he was telling the truth so she really had no other choice. The smirk was unnecessary, though. "Okay, we'll do an hour everyday - and if you, for even _one tiny fraction_ of a second, think that everything's going to correct itself in a week I am calling it quits. Do you understand?"

The smirk did not fade away. "We'll just have to see about that."

Flames licked at her insides. "Oh, I'll be _seeing_, all right."

--

_A/N: The song that helped write the first half of this chapter was _The Best Thing_ by Savage Garden - random group, I know, but lyrically the song was fitting!_

_The song that helped write the second half was _Please Don't Leave Me _by Pink._

_Finding songs that reminded me of Roxas was fun; I came up with _Chasing You _by The City Drive, _Kill _by Jimmy Eat World, _Here's Your Letter _by blink-182 and of course _Bleeding Love, _the original version sung by our somewhat real life Roxas: Jesse McCartney!_


	21. Square One

_A/N: It was getting a little depressing with all the dark stuff so hopefully this chapter will help the plot take a lighter turn._

_I know this is a little shorter than usual...I'll try and make the future chapters longer!_

--

**Square One.**

The three girls decided to have lunch by Naminé's locker today so they could discuss the blonde's problem without any male interference.

"I still can't believe it," Kairi laughed, "Roxas Katsura, the boy that's been raising heaven and hell for you for the past few months, is now your _math tutor?"_

"At least that means he'll be in school for the remainder of the semester." Olette pointed out.

"Sounds pretty kinky to me." Kairi giggled; of course she had to take it up a notch or two. "So what happens if you make a mistake? Are you gonna let him _punish you?"_

"Shut up," Naminé growled, her face a violent shade of red, "I couldn't say no to him - he kept bothering me!"

"It's not his fault," Olette shrugged, "He seems really eager to want to fix things with you. You should take this opportunity to show him how you really feel, Naminé."

"I know," The artist sighed and dropped her drink to pull on her hair, "But I don't want to give in just yet...not without a fight."

"That's the spirit," Her cousin cheered, "Show him who's boss, Nami!"

"What do you mean?" The brunette asked before taking another bite of her sandwich.

"I don't want to lie to you guys - I'm really happy that we're talking again, but what I don't like about the whole thing is that it had to take _Seifer_ to bring him back to me, y'know what I mean? After the whole incident he comes out of the blue and expects things to go back to the way they were; he's disregarding the months I spent hurting over him, and he thinks that just because he's around again everything will be okay!" Naminé huffed and shook her head, her white-blonde hair swaying deftly. "I don't understand how he thinks."

"I don't think it's possible, anyway," Olette laughed, "Roxas is so complicated that sometimes I don't think he even understands what's going through his own head."

The blonde laughed bitterly. "I wouldn't be surprised if that was true."

"As long as you're in control of everything I think you'll do fine," Kairi assured her, "Make sure he knows that you want him to make up for his mistakes."

"I'm pretty sure he knows already, but being the cunning idiot that he is he's probably going to twist things," The artist grumbled, "I saw it written all over his face in Math."

"Twist, eh?" Kairi raised a sly eyebrow, "Sounds...sexy."

"God, Kairi…" Naminé buried her flushing face into her hands as Olette laughed softly.

In English Sora seemed to be himself again, much to the blonde's relief. Roxas fortunately avoided her for the period, sitting at the back of the class. She could feel some tension between the two brothers and she briefly wondered if it had something to do with Sora's mood earlier in the morning, but she shrugged it off, deciding that it was not her business. In Gym they sat in a classroom so they could study for their Health and Fitness exam, and it was practically the same as last period, where the twins made sure to sit as far as they could from one another.

When class was over and she was one step out of the room a familiar, husky voice called her name.

"Naminé," He sounded impatient for some reason.

She was never going to get used to the way she would heat up in all sorts of indecent places whenever she heard her name on his tongue. The irritable tone he was using did spoil her mood, though, and she closed her eyes and mentally counted to ten before turning around to face him.

"Hello, Roxas." She forced on a small smile and eyed the stupid, roguish yet very attractive expression she expected him to be wearing. He was leaning against the wall with his arms crossed and his tired eyes were half-open; though her annoyance over him was still burning bright a somewhat large part of her still wanted to pry his arms open, lean into his chest and just stay like that forever.

"Are you ready?" He lifted himself off the wall and approached her slowly; she could not help but feel a little intimidated.

"Yes," She swallowed hard, "Erm, my place or yours?"

"Mine, of course." He grinned and brushed past her to make his way towards the exit. Realizing that his perfection was taking hold of her yet again, she rolled her eyes and began to follow him.

_How gentlemanly of you, _she thought wryly as she moved through the crowd, keeping her eyes on his tousled hair as they made their way towards her locker. She donned her winter wear and left the building with him, realizing with a raised eyebrow that he was not wearing a coat.

"Er, aren't you-"

"It's in the car." He fished his keys out of his pocket and pressed the unlock button; not too far away the headlights of his BMW flashed twice. "I'll see you soon."

Naminé was grumbling under her breath as she stomped all the way to her car. She jammed her seatbelt together and skewered the ignition with her key, her eyes narrowing at the shiny grey BMW gracefully backing out of its parking space. She eyed the bumper with malice, figuring that he was rich enough to buy his way out of a fender bender anyway…

_Whoa, slow down, _her conscience jumped in at the nick of time, _You're Naminé, not Kairi!_

Right, she almost forgot about that. She sighed in defeat and shifted gears, driving slowly out of the parking space and veering towards the exit. The bumper of Roxas' car was still tempting, however, and her pale blue eyes were locked on it the entire drive to the Katsura manor. When she parked by the front doors she eyed the rearview mirror; the strange silver pendants were staring back at her. Smirking to herself she reached behind her neck and unclasped the necklace, then placed it in the coin compartment under the stereo.

If he was not going to play nice, she was not either.

"Hello, Miss Hinomoto," Fredericton was standing beside her door, peering into her window, "I'll take your car for you."

"Thanks," She smiled kindly as she stepped outside, dropping her keys into his awaiting hand.

"I believe Mister Katsura is awaiting your arrival in the foyer."

"Alright." She inhaled slowly and counted to ten once more before stepping inside. Roxas was waiting for her by the bottom of the steps, looking irritably yet adorably oblivious. He had his math work tucked underneath his arm.

"This way." For a second his eyes flitted to her chest; normally she would have slapped him for being perverted but she knew why his eyes were drawn to that particular spot, and she had to suppress a triumphant grin. Roxas wordlessly turned on his heel and began to ascend the deadly glass staircase. She hated those glass steps _so _much.

She began to walk slowly behind him, keeping her hand on the rail as she watched her feet step over the black glass. She sighed in relief when they finally reached solid, wooden floor at the top, and she followed him down the narrow hallway. He stopped a few doors away from the entertainment room and placed his hand on the long titanium handle.

The library was as amazing as the rest of the house; it kind of looked like something from a sci-fi movie. The ceiling was high, and the far wall was made entirely of glass. The bookshelves lining the other walls were high as well and made out of very dark wood. There was a small staircase - glass of course - in the corner of the room that led to a loft that hung over half of the first floor. Roxas made his way towards that staircase and she dumbly followed him, still awestruck over the modern architecture.

The loft had a few shorter bookcases here and there, and there was even a coffee table flanked by two leather black couches. At the head of those was a dark wooden desk with a lamp and a neat stack of important-looking papers; behind the desk was the wide wall/window, exposing a perfect view of the back property.

"W-we're allowed to work here?" She asked timidly as she watched him place his things on the coffee table. He sat on one of the couches, nodded and gestured to the couch opposite him. When she sat down the leather cushion sighed under her weight. "This place looks...er, important."

"It is," He answered her tersely, as if he expected her to know the answer, "It's my mother's office."

Her temper began to flare again but she concealed the worst of it with a large intake of breath and a brief closing of the eyes. "Ah, I see." She reopened her big blues and smiled as calmly as she could. "Okay, I guess it's time to start."

He flipped open his math textbook and began to shuffle through his papers. "We're going to start from the very beginning."

"Fine with me."

"That means we're starting with algebra."

"Okay."

"Okay then." Her clipped answers were making his eye twitch, and she loved it. He ran his hand through his hair as he bent over his textbook, and she could smell his shampoo as it wafted towards her. Her fingertips began to tingle and her palms grew sweaty, and she pressed them against the cushion to restrain herself. She leaned forward a little to look at whatever he was pointing to in his math textbook, and she noted the sharp points of his hair. She remembered how they were not so sharp when she glided her fingers through it, and the way they always stuck right back up when she tried to flatten it.

"Naminé," Her name on his tongue gave her a jolt back to reality; he briefly looked upwards and she found herself staring into the eyes she missed so much, "Are you paying attention?"

His grumpy tone was a rude awakening; she rolled her eyes and nodded, and he sighed and continued with whatever he was trying to explain to her.

As time passed she was beginning to realize just how hard it was to stay mad at him, especially when they were so close to each other. She forgot how beautiful his dark blue eyes were, even if they were half-open and just a little bit bloodshot. The way his mouth curved into a small frown when he was trying to concentrate on something, how his hand always brushed through his hair every five minutes - every little thing that used to capture her attention had come back into her memory, and suddenly she felt like she was sitting on top of the bleachers with his school blazer wrapped around her shoulders.

"Naminé…" He sounded even more cantankerous than last time, and it shattered her happy thoughts. Groaning, she turned to face him.

_"What?" _Maybe it was not so hard to stay mad at him after all.

He exhaled sharply and raked his fingers through his hair. "I knew it - you weren't paying attention."

She rolled her eyes for what felt like the billionth time today. "It's not my fault you're so boring when it comes to explaining things."

"Don't you want to pass Math?"

"I _am_ passing Math - I just want to see if I can pass it with a higher mark on the exam!" Months of pent-up frustration were pushing against her ribcage, threatening to explode, and though his voice was slow and patient she could tell he was feeling the same.

"Well, if you want that to happen you're going to have to pay attention to me."

_"Well,_ if you want me to pay attention to you put some feeling in your damn voice! You sound like...like those automated voice things!"

He growled in aggravation and flopped backwards against the couch, throwing his hands up in defeat. "I don't know what I'm going to do with you."

"I could easily say the same thing about you." She spat, crossing her arms stubbornly and glaring at the glass wall. After a few seconds she stood up and brushed her skirt off. "I'm going to the bathroom - I need a break from you."

"Turn left from the door; it's the fourth door on your right." She nodded curtly at his instructions before leaving the loft. She stormed through the library and angrily made her way to the bathroom; she opened the door with such vengeance she thought she was going to break it. She flounced towards the sink, which of course was made of glass, and splashed her heated face with cold water. The cool liquid soothed the angry burn spread across her cheeks and she sighed in relief as she felt the worst of her mood wash away with it. After dabbing her face with a towel that hung on the small rack to her left she glanced upwards into the mirror and noted the few frustrated tears clinging to her eyelashes.

"Ugh, you are such a crybaby." She hissed at her reflection before running over her eyes with her sleeve. She did not want to go back right away so she paced awkwardly in the somewhat large bathroom, her eyes cast to her shoes and her hands folded neatly behind her back. She grew bored of that in seconds and made her way towards the door, opening it so that she can poke her head through. She glanced left and right before stepping out entirely, and her hand moved to her hair as she shuffled down the hallway. She passed the door to the library and moved a few more doors down. She stopped in front of one, glancing at it with a scrunched brow; she was sure this was the one…

When she opened the door to see the entertainment room she sighed in relief; she automatically moved towards the back of the room, where the frosted glass doors were. Inhaling slowly, she gripped the titanium handle and pushed it open.

Nostalgia slapped her hard when she stepped into the studio. She swallowed a lump in her throat when she eyed the piano at the far end, and she imagined Roxas sitting on the bench with his fingers flying over the keys, singing and playing that song, _their_ song. She spotted the drum set and giggled when she remembered his story on Sora's inability to play anything with a pitch.

Her chest truly began to ache when her eyes found the red and black acoustic guitar hanging on the wall. She forced another lump down as she approached it slowly, and when she was close enough she reached towards it to run her fingers down the shiny wooden surface. Her fingers gently flicked at the strings and she smiled to herself when the guitar sang back to her. She remembered their small conversation as he strummed their song, and how they were so close, so close to doing something she had been craving to do with him since that day. Her lips tingled at the thought.

Sighing and rubbing her eyes with her knuckles, she decided it was about time she headed back to the library; he was probably fuming by now. She spun around and left the studio and entertainment room, tugging on her hair as she re-entered the library. She stepped up the staircase slowly, preparing herself for another lecture from her math tutor, but when she reached the top she was only greeted with silence. She raised an eyebrow and glanced towards the leather couches, only to discover that he was not there.

"Roxas?" She approached the nearest couch and peered over it; she squeaked in surprise and clamped a hand over her mouth when she found him, her previous frustrations forgotten.

He had fallen asleep while waiting for her; one arm was draped over his eyes and the other was lying over his stomach. His feet dangled over the armrest and he was breathing deeply. Unable to help herself Naminé circled the couch and knelt beside him; her fingers grazed the top of his hand and she smiled at his serene expression. She closed her eyes and leaned into his arm, breathing him in.

"I hate how the only time I can act like myself around you is when you're asleep," She mumbled against his sleeve, "When you're awake you bring out the worst in me."

He rolled on his side, facing her, and she moved her hand to his hair. She gently pulled through his sandy spikes and frowned. "I want to know what you're thinking - maybe it'll help me understand you better so I won't end up exploding every time we talk to each other," She sighed shakily, "Or maybe your thoughts will just give me more questions. With the way you're acting right now, it seems more plausible."

He murmured something unintelligible, and she laughed softly and leaned in to peck his cheek. "Okay, I'll leave you alone - you need your sleep anyways." She stood up slowly, hesitantly, and reached for her coat and schoolbag. She ruffled his hair once more before leaving.

Naminé made sure to wear her necklace again once she got back into her car. When she arrived home ten minutes later her cousin was there to bombard her with stupid questions like always.

"Did you manage to actually learn from him, or were you too distracted in his dashing good looks to pay attention? Did you guys finally give in to your hormonal urges and-"

"Kairi," The blonde's face was bright red as she dumped her books on her desk, "Do you think the possibility of _that_ happening is high at the moment?"

The redhead tapped a finger with her chin as she moved to sit cross-legged on her cousin's bed. "No, I guess not." She scratched the side of her head. "Now that I think about it, you're back pretty early - you've only been there for forty-five minutes, give or take."

Naminé moved to sit beside her. "That's because he fell asleep."

"You were _that_ boring?"

"Er," The blonde tugged harder on her hair, "We kind of fought for a bit, and I got frustrated so I left to go to the bathroom. I was still kind of angry so I took my time, and when I came back he was asleep."

"You _fought?_ What were you fighting over?"

"Stupid things," The artist shook her head, "Things that we shouldn't be arguing about. I think we're just frustrated with the way things are going right now, and the fact that he isn't getting enough sleep isn't helping much either." She sighed and flopped backwards against the mattress, and Kairi lowered herself to lie beside her.

"I wonder what's holding him back," The redhead frowned, "I mean, thinking about all the things he's done for you since the beginning of the school year - you'd think you guys would be together by now. It's kind of inevitable, really."

"What makes you say that?"

"Oh c'mon, Nami, I know you've thought about this at least once," Kairi rolled on her side to face her cousin, "Look at all the things that's happened so far: you end up in every class together, when you met you instantly clicked, his dad's house just happens to be a few houses down from yours, he's saved you from Seifer and now, by coincidence, he's your math tutor! Oh, and let's not forget about his Christmas present." The redhead raised her hands and locked her fingers together. "Everything's woven together, like some kind of messed up spiderweb, or quilt or whatever."

"What am I supposed to do?" Naminé sighed, rolling on her stomach and pressing a pillow over her head, "He's not going to want to open up, especially to me."

"Maybe he's just not used to spending time with you anymore," Kairi suggested, "The months you spent not talking to each other built up a lot of frustration in the both of you, and it's all lashing out now because fate somehow pulled you together again at the last minute."

"That explains the pointless bickering, at least," The blonde frowned, reaching underneath her pillow to tug on her hair, "But what are you saying? I have to _wait?"_

"What else is there to do?" The redhead shrugged, "You have to give not only him time, but yourself too. You need to adjust to each other again, get used to the feeling of being together."

"You know how I feel about this whole waiting business, Kairi."

"I know, but you're not the only one who hates it. Sometimes you gotta do what you gotta do." The redhead propped her elbow up on the mattress and rested her cheek in her palm. "Is he worth waiting for, even after all this time?"

Naminé sifted through her memories of him: sitting together on the bleachers with sea-salt ice cream, watching him strum his guitar in the studio, the feeling of his arms pulling her close against his chest, playing their song and listening to it resonate through the empty void of the theatre, the brief kiss on the forehead before telling her to run to his car, discovering the small box sitting by itself under her Christmas tree, his voice whispering in her ear before falling asleep…

"Of course he is," She answered softly, her fingers absently twisting with the sheets.

--

_A/N: If you were wondering, Roxas' guitar is a _Yamaha APX 500_, in the _Dark Red Burst_ =)_


	22. So Close

**So Close.**

"So how's the math coming along?" Axel asked with a grin as he passed his shiny lighter in between his hands.

"Horrible." Naminé mumbled behind her bowl of ramen.

"Well," The redhead smirked as he pocketed his lighter, "Shouldn't you be happy? You get to spend more time with him and such."

"Yeah, but the thing is," The blonde released her chopsticks and tugged absentmindedly on her hair, "All we've been doing is arguing - it's only been two days and I'm _this_ close to ripping his head off!"

"He feels the same way," The pyromaniac chuckled as his friend's eyes dropped to her lap, "He's always telling me how _aggravating you've become." _

"Well, he's more aggravating!" She looked up at him fiercely, "I'm not the one with the PMS mood changes!"

"You're not very different from him at the moment, you know." He began to speak in his mocking, high-pitched voice. _"Oh, Axel, he gets me _so_ mad sometimes, I'm tired of waiting for him! Axel, I can't stand it anymore, I need him, I neeeeeed him-"_

"Shut up," Naminé groaned and clutched her head with her hands. "Kairi says it's because we're not used to being around each other anymore."

Axel smirked and leaned forward on the table. His sharp green eyes glinted underneath the light fixture dangling from the ceiling. "Or maybe it's because you two are more stubborn than you'd like to admit, and you're trying to see who'll crack first."

The blonde gaped, appalled. "Not true." Her expression was displaying the exact opposite of her words, however, and Axel shook his head in amusement.

"Like I said, stubborn." Her friend laughed and tipped his chair backwards, placing his hands behind his head. "My money's on Roxas."

Naminé repeated Axel's words to her cousin later on that day, and just as she expected Kairi had something witty and somewhat embarrassing to say about it.

"Y'know, he has a point there," Kairi tapped a finger against her chin; she giggled and covered her mouth with a hand, "Wow, think about all the sexual tension that's building up..."

The blonde groaned and flopped backwards against her mattress, grabbing a pillow and pressing it over her face. "Please don't start."

"Oh c'mon, Nami," Her redheaded cousin laughed, "You know it better than anybody; your teasing little arguments and bouts of frustration are just covering up the fact that you're both madly in l-"

"Argh!" Naminé pried the pillow off her face and stuffed it into her cousin's instead; she pinned Kairi to the mattress and growled as the poor redhead squirmed for breath underneath her. "Don't say it!"

When she believed she had enough the blonde pulled the pillow away; Kairi sat up straight with one hand to her chest, her shoulders rising and falling. "G-God, Nami, why can't you just admit it?"

The blonde's face was flushed as she fumbled with her fingers. "I acknowledge my feelings for him, and I'm not in denial, not at all. I just…" Her blush spread to the tips of her ears and she lowered her eyes to her lap, "I-I just can't say it out loud yet." Her hand moved to her necklace for a moment, and then it traveled to her hair. "The fact that his feelings are so ambiguous right now doesn't help either."

_"Ambiguous?_ You're kidding me, right?" She looked up to see her cousin staring back at her with wide, incredulous eyes. "He's head over heels for you, and don't you dare tell me it isn't obvious!" When Naminé gave her a disbelieving look she sighed. "There's got to be a reason why he keeps coming back every time he leaves."

"Maybe he just likes messing with people's heads," The blonde muttered, "It seems like such a...such a _gang_ thing to do."

"He wouldn't mess with yours," Kairi pointed out, but when her cousin raised an eyebrow in her direction she frowned, "Okay, maybe just a little, but I'm pretty sure he's not doing this on purpose!" When Naminé's expression did not change she rolled her eyes. "Okay then, I don't know what else to say. You've got me as confused as you now."

Naminé sighed and tugged on her hair. "Why can't things be more straightforward? Why couldn't we be like you and Sora, where everything just falls into place?"

The redhead shrugged. "I dunno, but the complicatedness kinda makes it a bit more interesting, doesn't it?" She scratched the side of her head. "And the suspense makes it all worth it when it's all figured out in the end."

The artist sighed again. "I guess."

The next day passed by quickly, but when her math lessons with Roxas resumed after school time slowed down at alarming rates.

"Why are you looking at me like that?"

"I did something right - aren't you going to congratulate me, or at least give me a pat on the back or something?"

"Oh. Congratulations."

Naminé growled and threw her hands up in the air. "You're impossible."

"It's rude to _ask_ to be congratulated, you know - it's supposed to catch you off guard." Roxas flipped a few pages forward in his math textbook and rubbed the skin behind his ear with the eraser end of his pencil. "Okay, next question."

Sighing, the artist leaned forward and rested her forearms on her lap. She peered into the textbook, reading the problem he wanted her to solve. A dull pulsing made itself present at the back of her head, spreading to her temples and she groaned, rubbing them gingerly. "Ngh…" She groaned, clamping her eyes shut.

His eyes softened, just a little bit, and he frowned. "Are you alright?" His voice was not exactly warm, but it was not emotionless. He leaned backwards against the sofa and brushed his fingers through his hair. "Maybe we should call it a day-"

"N-no," Naminé grimaced, "I've only been here for twenty minutes - I need to study more-"

He sighed and shook his head; when he chuckled she felt a strange stirring in her chest. "Were you always this stubborn?" He stood up. "I'll go get you some aspirin." He jogged down the stairs and disappeared for a few minutes; when he came back he was holding a glass of water and two tiny pills.

She accepted them gratefully, popping the pills into her mouth and downing the water. After placing the glass gently on the coffee table she swung her legs over the couch and pressed her head against the armrest, sighing. "All this math is tearing my head open."

"Which is why I told you we should stop for today." She could hear him from the opposite couch; he was back to his impatient, stubborn, irritating self, much to her disappointment.

"I only have until next Thursday to cram everything in, so I can't waste any time." She sat up slowly; the aspirin was kicking in and she could feel the worst of her headache fading away. She managed a small smile and gestured towards the textbook lying in between them. "C'mon, hit me with your worst."

It really was not because she wanted to study more math (anybody who wanted that would obviously not be in their right mind), but more because this was the most time they had spent together in months, and she was trying to make the most of it. Even though he was not being very cooperative and every single one of their conversations ended with a pointless row it was better than pining for him all the time.

The corner of his mouth twitched. "That headache needs to go away first."

She rolled her eyes. "It's not going to kill me."

He winced at the word _kill,_ and then he leaned forward and pointed to something in his textbook. "Fine, if you're so-" He paused to yawn, "-eager, do this one."

She glanced up at his sleepy disposition and frowned. "You haven't been sleeping, have you?" She asked quietly.

His half-open eyes glazed over her. "What?"

An idea concocted inside of her head, and even though she was a little frightened of how it came about she was going to go through with it anyway. "How about we change our routine a little: for the first fifty minutes we do math, and then in the last ten minutes I help you get to sleep." She beamed up at his flabbergasted expression. "Don't make it look like you _haven't_ been having sleeping problems, Roxas - it's pretty obvious."

He shook his head, but his eyes were searching for a good enough excuse. "No, it's not that-"

"The first step to solving a problem is admitting you have one." She sang, and he rolled his dark blue eyes.

"I don't have a problem," He muttered through gritted teeth, his hands curling into fists beside his thighs.

A few giggles escaped her lips; she kind of liked the fact that she was aggravating him. "And everyone calls me the world's worst liar." She picked up her pencil and reached for her calculator. "After this problem, I'm helping you sleep and you're not gonna fuss about it."

"Fifty minutes haven't even passed yet."

"Well, that's just too bad."

He grumbled under his breath and furiously swiped through his hair, making it stick up more. "Never mind, I think I _do_ have a problem: _you."_

"I can easily tell you the same thing." She meant that in more ways than one, but she kind of hoped he did not catch onto that.

His shoulders deflated and he sighed, burying his face in his hands. "I don't have a choice, do I?"

"Nope." Her lips popped at the second syllable, emphasizing the 'p'. When he groaned and flopped against the sofa she grinned. She tapped on the textbook impatiently with her pencil. "Hey, you're supposed to be helping me!"

His eyes narrowed as he forced himself forward, and his fingers ran through his hair again. "Honestly, Naminé…" He muttered as he reached for his notebook, and she suppressed another grin. The question was actually not very hard - she could have solved it on her own, but how could she pass up an opportunity to irritate him?

"Great," She closed the textbook and smiled up at him, "Now it's time to fix your sleeping problem!"

"Joy," He muttered monotonously. He watched her rise from her seat, circle the coffee table and lower to the spot beside him. She grinned at his slightly nervous expression. "So, what am I supposed to do?"

"Lie down," She instructed, and she hesitantly reached for him. He flinched at first, but when her fingers finally reached his shoulders he seemed to relax under her touch. Her heart was pounding as she gently pushed him onto the sofa. His eyes met hers and for a second she forgot where she was; she stumbled and nearly collapsed on top of him, but she steadied her palms on the cushions of the sofa at the nick of time. She swallowed hard, then drew her hands away and sat up straight. "Erm, c-close your eyes."

"I could be doing this without your help."

Naminé's hands flexed into rigid claws and she resisted the urge to reach for his neck. "I'm not done yet." She noticed how tense his shoulders looked, and he kept fumbling with his fingers. She reached for his hands and pulled them apart, ignoring the little jolts of electricity running through her own. "Relax, will you? You won't be able to sleep if you're all fidgety and stiff like that."

"I'm trying, I'm trying," He muttered, his eyes still closed.

"Well, try harder." He opened one eye to stare at her contemptuously for a split second, and she sighed. "C'mon, Roxas. You need your rest."

"It's kind of hard when you're around." He said in a voice so soft she thought she was imagining it. Her head snapped in his direction and her cheeks flushed a furious red, but luckily his eyes were still closed.

"Do you want me to go, then?" Her stomach tingled, fearing that he was going to say yes.

He was silent for a long time; she thought he had fallen asleep somehow. He breathed in deep. "No," He finally replied, and her face heated up even more, "I don't want you to go."

She leaned over him and placed one hand on his chest; her other hand wandered over to his hair. She gently pulled through his messy blond locks, and her heart jumped when a smile crept onto his perfect face. "Okay, I won't go, then." She continued to stroke his hair, awing at his adorable expression as he finally began to drift off to sleep.

"Mm," He murmured, raising an arm; she gasped slightly as she felt it curl around her back, pulling her against him. She had not felt this nervous in a long time, and her shoulders trembled slightly as his other arm wrapped around them. "This feels nice."

The faint memory of hugging on the soccer bleachers flashed before her, and she smiled against his collar. She shifted upwards to press her cheek against his collarbone, and her hand moved to cup behind his neck. His cologne overwhelmed her and her eyes threatened to close.

"Sleepy yet?" She whispered against the soft fabric of his shirt; she stifled a yawn, for she could not help but feel a little tired herself.

"Mmhmm…" He mumbled, too sleepy to speak proper words. She felt him nestle against the plump cushions of the sofa; the soft thud of his heartbeat thumped gently against her, and she smiled at the sensation. The feeling of his hands rubbing slow circles on her back lulled her into a sleepy daze, and she yawned against his shoulder. Minutes later she slipped into a comfortable sleep with a smile on her face.

For once everything was as it should be.

"Mm…" Sometime later Naminé's eyes fluttered open, and the first thing she saw was a white, wrinkled collar. Her eyes widened when she remembered where she was: the second floor of the library of the Katsura manor, on top of the boy she was supposed to be irritated with. She lifted her head up slightly and found him sleeping soundly; she smiled dreamily at his expression and shifted upwards to peck the corner of his mouth. Her eyes wandered over to glass wall, and when she saw the pitch black of night staring back at her she squeaked in horror.

How long was she out for? She squirmed a little, trying to sit up, but when she looked down and found his arms hugging her waist tightly she groaned and pressed her cheek against his chest. This was going to be a bit of a problem…

"Ngh…" She grunted as she tried to wriggle free of his grasp; apparently Roxas liked to cuddle in his sleep. The thought would have been adorable if not for the fact that she was supposed to be home a _long_ time ago. Her squirming was getting her nowhere and she collapsed on top of him, tired and very close to giving up. She turned around so that she was facing the ceiling, and she hesitantly reached for his hands. She slowly began to pry them off of her, releasing his hold on her. She grinned victoriously as she managed to push one arm off, but just as she was about to reach for the other he mumbled something incoherent and rolled over on his side, taking her with him.

"Gah!" Her screams were muffled by the leather cushions; Roxas practically had her sandwiched in between him and the backrest of the couch. In the near distance she could hear her phone vibrating from her bag; it was probably Kairi. She groaned into the couch and tried to lean backwards a bit to get some air but Roxas had her in a tight, but gentle grip and it was difficult to move with so little space. Her lungs were swelling against her ribs now, pleading for air, and she managed to lift her head from underneath his chin to suck in a few fresh breaths.

She never expected herself to be the kind of person who would get into these kinds of situations; stuff like this only happened in movies! She grimaced and pressed her palms against the cushions, trying to give herself some space. Finally Roxas rolled over again, but this time he released his arms from her, giving her the freedom to move around. She sat up slowly and placed a hand over her chest, giving herself some time to catch her breath. She thought about the few minutes she spent wedged in between the couch and him, and a faint tinge of pink spread across her cheeks.

"You owe me for this." She grumbled as she crawled over him. She smoothed out her skirt and packed her things into her bag, and then knelt beside him to give him a rushed kiss on the cheek before leaving. She hurried down the glass steps, her paranoia over them completely vanished, and when she saw her silver convertible parked outside she breathed a sigh of relief. How Fredericton knew, she had no idea.

"Oh. My. God." Kairi gaped when Naminé finally came home minutes later; her face was contorted from trying to conceal her laughter for so long. "You know how _long_ you've been over there? Look at how many times I tried to call you!" They stepped into the blonde's room and sat on the bed together; the redhead finally caved in and snorted. "Too busy _studying,_ I presume?"

"No, no," The artist's cheeks were burning, and she groaned and buried her face in her small hands, "I...ugh...how can I word this properly without having you make some kind of stupid comment afterwards?"

Her cousin's eyes widened. "Oh, so you _did_ do something naughty!" She reached forward and pulled on the stray strand of hair near the back of Naminé's head. "Look at your hair, it's messier than usual-" Her hand moved to her cousin's askew tie and wrinkled sleeves. "-and your clothes are all bothered-"

"It's not what it looks like!" Naminé cried out frantically and slapped Kairi's hand away, "We...er, we kinda fell asleep…"

Her redheaded cousin laughed even harder. "Oh-" She snorted again, "-y-you _fell asleep,_ eh? Is that what they call it these days?"

Her temper began to flare again. "Kairi, I swear…"

The other girl sighed and flopped backwards against the backboard of the bed. "Okay, okay, I'll give you a chance to explain yourself." She held her hand up to her nose to prevent any more snorting. "What _really_ happened?"

Naminé tried to smooth out the wrinkles in her sleeves, but it was helpless. "I tried to help him to get to sleep-"

"Judging by your appearance I assume you were successful."

"Shut up - anyway, I ended up falling asleep too and when I woke up it was already dark out." Her face began to heat up again and she sighed. "Er, I tried to leave but he kinda had his arms around me-" She heard her cousin snort again and her eye began to twitch, "-and he was hugging me...p-pretty tight so I couldn't really just get up and leave."

Everybody knew when Kairi was laughing her hardest when she began to snort uncontrollably. The redhead wiped the tears from her eyes and sighed. She was trying to speak and hold in her laughter at the same time. "A-aw, Nami, that...that's really…r-really cute. Falling asleep t-together…" She sounded like she was choking.

The blonde rolled her eyes. "You don't believe me."

"N-no, I do!" Kairi shifted so that she faced her cousin, "It's just...it's just funny to think about, that's all. C'mon - what would your first impression be if you saw me walk through the front door with rumpled clothes, a sleepy expression on my face and messy hair?"

Naminé shrugged. "I'd assume you took a nap somewhere."

The redhead quirked an eyebrow at her. "You're kidding me, right?"

"No, not really." The blonde laughed a little. "I just don't have my head in the gutter all the time, like you." She leaned forward and hugged Kairi tightly. "I know you can't help being a pervert. It's okay."

"I'm not a pervert!" Her cousin protested over her shoulder. After a few seconds of hesitating, however, she added in a quieter voice, "Okay, maybe sometimes, but that's only for entertainment reasons alone!"

_"Entertainment..._riiiight. Whatever that means."

Kairi grinned and pulled away at arms' length. "I'm rubbing off on you, Nami."

The artist grinned back. "I learn from the best."

Next day's math lesson was surprisingly not as awkward as Naminé thought it was going to be; she assumed Roxas was too deep in sleep to register what happened yesterday. As the days passed things returned to normal, somewhat; they went on with their math lessons with little to no small talk, and surprisingly enough their pointless arguments have died down a little.

There were only two days left until the math final, and for once Naminé had convinced him to study at the Hinomoto library instead. It was larger than the Katsura library, and everything was made of fine, polished wood - the walls were paneled in them and so were the floors. The bookcases were wood, the tables and chairs were wood and the ladders providing access to the higher books were also made of wood.

"Naminé," He chided, "You're not paying attention again, are you?"

"Huh?" She looked up from her lap and stared into his endless blue orbs; her cheeks heated up and she coughed awkwardly. "Er, sorry. Distracted. Kind of."

He raised an eyebrow. "Are you alright? You're redder than usual."

His comment made her eye twitch, but she breathed in deeply to calm herself. "Y-yes, I'm fine. What were you saying before?"

He explained the math problem to her and she managed to solve it in record time. He smiled grimly and leaned back against the couch, running his fingers through his sandy spikes. "Do you really need tutoring, Naminé? You seem to be breezing through these without any difficulty."

She blushed and fiddled with her pencil. "Yeah, I do - it's just the parts we're at now, I understand them thoroughly. The other stuff, the more advanced stuff - it's what I'm having trouble with."

He frowned and his hand reached for his hair. "Why didn't you say so earlier? We could've saved a lot of time, you know."

"Er," A part of her wanted to tell him the truth, that she pretended she did not know for the sake of spending more time with him, but she pushed that aside for now and tried to wrack her brains for a good enough excuse, "I guess I forgot." _Whatever happened to a good enough excuse?_

His eyes dulled, telling her that he knew she was lying. "Naminé-"

"I know, I know," She mumbled, trying to stay away from his stare, "I'm the worst liar known to man. You don't have to remind me." She tugged on her hair as his eyes pored over her, waiting for a truthful answer. "Do I _have_ to say it?"

He smirked and crossed his arms. "Of course you do."

"But you know already." She whined.

"How are you so sure that I do?"

Her hands balled into fists and she huffed. "Not this again."

He blinked. "Not what?"

"Roxas," She said his name slowly, trying to even out her temper, "Your pretend obliviousness isn't going to get you anywhere."

"I don't know what you're talking about."

_"Argh!" _She buried her face in her hands and stifled her cries of frustration. "Why do you always do this to me?!"

"Do-"

"Do _what,_ I know," She grumbled, "Ugh, if I'm popping Xanax by the end of the year I'm blaming it on you."

His eyes widened by just a fraction. "You know I don't mean to give you so much trouble; all I want is a chance to start over. I admit that I've done a lot of stupid things, and I regret that I've hurt you." He sighed and his fingers raked through his hair again. "I never wanted to hurt you, Naminé."

Her heart ached at the sight of his crestfallen expression, and she unconsciously leaned on her arms to look at him more closely. "I know," She whispered, and for some reason she felt the corners of her eyes stinging, "But after everything...everything that you've done and everything that's happened..."

His eyes lowered to her hands, and he hesitantly reached for them. She sucked in a breath as she felt his warm fingers entwine with hers, and her heart began to hammer painfully against her ribcage when he leaned in closer towards her. He was so close she could count the shades of blue in his eyes, and she could hear his own hurried breathing. "I…" His voice was barely a whisper as their foreheads touched; by now the both of them were leaning so far forward they were out of the seats.

Her face was numb at this point, and her heart was threatening to explode. Her eyes fluttered half-closed as she felt his hands leave hers, and she gasped when she felt them press gently against the sides of her head. He pulled her even closer, and her fingers and toes tingled when his lips brushed against hers.

This was happening. It was really happening.

_Oh God, oh God, oh God, _were the only things running through Naminé's mind when his lips met hers in a shy peck. She quivered slightly from the contact, but at the same time she wanted more; she automatically reached for the back of his head and pulled him in for another kiss. Roxas merely shoved the table to the side so they could stand up properly, and his arms wrapped around her waist, pulling her in and deepening the kiss. His mouth hungrily searched hers, and she gasped a little when she felt his tongue gently probing into her mouth. She parted her lips just a little, making enough room for him to enter, and she suppressed a smile when she noticed how he tasted like sea-salt ice cream. Months of yearning and craving for each other poured out into their embrace; her fingers roamed through his hair and she moaned as she felt his hands press harder on her lower back, forcing their bodies closer together. He gently pushed her against a nearby bookcase, his mouth never leaving hers. She moaned again when she felt his chest against hers, and the strange warming feeling began to stir inside of her again…

Then suddenly, like a flame being snuffed out, the warmth was gone.

Naminé forced her eyes open, only to find Roxas standing just arms' length away from her. He was breathing hard, like her, and his face was slightly flushed, but his eyes were showing an emotion she thought did not match with the rest of his expression: fear?

"I-" He shook his head and backed away; he looked like had just seen a ghost, "Naminé-" He shook his head again, and her chest began to ache because he looked so troubled.

She stepped towards him, but with every step she took he took another one back. Her brow scrunched together at his odd behaviour, and the aching in her chest grew by the minute. "Roxas, what's the matter?" Hurt resided in her, thinking that she did something wrong.

He scrambled over to the table and pushed it back to its previous location. He then began to stuff his belongings into his book bag while shaking his head at the same time. When he was done he turned on his heel and began to make his way to the door but she stepped in his way to prevent him from doing so. He looked up at her and the aching inside pulsed louder when she read the unmistakable pain in his eyes. She did not understand why he was looking at her that way, and the thought of her being the reason why only made the hurt worse.

"Roxas," She pleaded, the tears welling up in her eyes and obscuring her vision, "Tell me what's wrong. I want to help you. Please, tell me."

"No," He tore his gaze away from her and glared at the floor, "I can't do this, Naminé. I can't."

_"What?"_ She balled her hands into fists as memories of that dismal Monday morning replayed in her head, "Do you _really_ have the nerve to do all of this again? Are you going to give me the same stupid excuses you gave me last time? Huh?" She stepped towards him and shoved his shoulders so hard he had to step backwards to regain his balance. "What is it this time, Roxas? What's your excuse to leave now? It's not because you're in a gang, is it? Or is it because I was _right_ - whatever the hell that means!" She shoved him again as the tears began to fall. "What exactly was I so right about, huh?"

He never met her gaze the entire time she was yelling at him, but when she finally stopped he looked up; though there were no tears in his eyes his voice was cracking and very quiet, as if he was close to crying. "I should have listened to what you told me on New Years."

She shook her head, not understanding what he was talking about. "I don't remember what I told you, Roxas. I was kind of drunk, remember?"

He was quiet for a long time. When he finally spoke, his words were heavy with despondence, and for a minute she felt her heart go out to him. "You told me to leave you alone, and when you said that I realized that it was something I should've done from the very beginning."

His words stung her; they twisted into her, piercing her lungs and skewering her heart. She found it difficult to breathe all of a sudden, and her knees felt very close to giving way. She gaped at him, incredulous. "W-what?" She choked out in between her attempts to remember how to breathe, "No…I would never want you...you to do that."

He growled, and his expression drastically changed from remorseful to vexed; his eyes burned and his fists were clenched so tightly the tendons in his hands were strained against his skin. "If I never bothered to befriend you after that little gym incident none of this would have ever happened! I would have never taken you out and risked your life, Seifer would have never hurt you, you would probably end up with somebody more deserving - somebody, somebody like-"

She laughed darkly, catching him off guard. "Somebody more deserving?" She echoed him bitterly, and she scoffed. "Yeah, like who? Give me a name."

"Riku." He mumbled pathetically, and her eyes widened at his answer. "He's vigilant, responsible," His shoulders deflated and his eyes softened, and Naminé's anger dissipated when his expression returned to its previous sullen state, "And he's always there for you."

The aching in her chest returned at the sight of him; she reluctantly reached out towards him, but he shrunk away and the pain inside intensified. "Roxas…" She murmured sadly, "Don't think you're insignificant in comparison to him. I...I don't feel that way towards him...not like the way I feel towards you…" Her cheeks grew red and she forced her gaze to the floor, thoroughly embarrassed.

There was another long pause. She heard him sigh, and then there were a few footsteps clopping against the wooden floor; she froze when she felt him stoically brush past her shoulder.

"I'm sorry, Naminé." Were the last words she heard before the door closed softly behind him.

--

_A/N: Please don't hurt me - I'm pretty sure he has a reason.  
_


	23. Mimi?

_A/N: And so _Shine_ hits the 200+ reviews mark! Thank you all for your support, you guys are beyond awesome! Keep reviewing - maybe you'll convince Roxas to come back =)_

_Oh, and iPrincess, I'm not really a fan of Riku either - the whole darkness thing gave me the impression that he's really just a closeted emo._

_--_

**Mimi?**

He left again, but this time she tried harder not to let it hurt so much.

This was the third time he had gone - surely by now she would be used to it.

That was the last time she had seen him; she was not even sure if he showed up for his exams. Even if he did she probably would not have noticed anyway - she no longer cared, or at least it seemed so on the outside. At least she went up a couple of percent in Math.

Sora was distraught over his brother's distant behaviour, which had considerably worsened since the last time. Roxas was seldom home nowadays, and when he did come home it would always be either really late at night or very early in the morning. Being the good friend that she is she often sat through Sora's laments over his brother but often blocked out her personal feelings and opinions so she would not end up crying over him by the end of the day.

Over the course of the next week Naminé learned to suppress the ache for him, the pain that stung her whenever she thought of him. During the day she seemed to be indifferent towards him; she never thought about him once, and she was always distracted, whether it be with her art, her studies or her friends. At night she forced herself to think of something else before falling asleep, but no matter how hard she tried his face would always somehow make its way back into her head.

By the time the first day of the new term arrived she was certain she was _almost_ completely over him.

"Hey," Kairi and Sora approached her as she emerged from the admissions office; her redheaded cousin leaned forward to peer down at her schedule, "What're your classes like?"

Naminé flipped the piece of paper over to show her friends. "I've got Business homeroom, then Geography, and then I've got Art and Science."

Sora, who had been sombre ever since his brother changed moods again, lightened up a little; a shadow of his trademark quirky grin ghosted across his lips. "Kairi and I have homeroom with you!"

The blonde gaped. "Really?" The redhead and brunet brandished their schedules, and once Naminé realized they were not joking the threesome laughed in unison. "Oh, that's great! I never even wanted to take Business but my dad told me to, _just in case." _She scoffed and shook her head, her blonde hair flying everywhere. "Whatever that meant."

Kairi laughed. "That's the same thing our parents told us. Apparently I'm supposed to take over the company when I'm older, but I don't even know what my parents' company _does."_

Sora scratched the back of his spiky head. "Isn't it a real estate company?" He frowned. "No, wait - I think your dad mentioned something about making airplane parts...no, actually I remember someone telling me that they run the city newspaper…"

"Beats me," The redhead shrugged, "When I was little I used to think they were secret spies who saved the world from underground terrorist groups."

Her boyfriend chuckled. "I'm pretty sure that's what Riku's parents do."

Naminé shook her head in amusement. "I wouldn't be surprised." She checked the time on her phone. "Oh, we better start heading to class."

It was a relief to know that her cousin and one of her close friends were taking Business with her, and it was even better when all three of them never wanted to take it in the first place. This classroom was a little different than all the other ones she had been to: instead of desks arranged in rows there were long tables with expensive-looking computers. The threesome took three computers in the middle row; Naminé stared at the glaring screen in confusion, wondering what this class had in store for her.

The rest of the students began to file in soon afterward, and their teacher appeared. She was a stern-looking woman with greying hair and outdated clothing. Her nose seemed to be permanently scrunched, as if she was always smelling something foul. Her dark, beady eyes were darting back and forth between the students behind her large, magnified glasses.

"Great," She heard Kairi groan from her left, "She's such a pain."

The blonde turned to face her cousin. "You've had her before?"

"For Business last year, yes," The redhead sighed, "Mrs. Yamanouchi is _the_ teacher from hell, I swear."

"Naminé," Sora nudged her elbow, "Your slip, remember?"

"Oh yeah, thanks," She muttered, and reached for her bag. She pulled out the small slip of paper and stumbled out of her seat, blushing slightly as she made her way towards her new teacher. She looked up and tugged on her curl of hair, feeling somewhat intimidated by the middle-aged woman's daunting appearance. "Er, h-hi, I'm-"

Mrs. Yamanouchi snatched the paper out of the poor girl's trembling hands and glared at it. After she was finished reading she looked up from the paper and stared straight into Naminé's eyes, terrifying her even more. "Naminé Hinomoto?" Her voice was high and nerve-grating; for some reason it reminded the blonde of a clucking hen. "So, you're the new student I've been hearing about."

"H-hearing about, m-ma'am?"

"Yes," The woman bent down a little to the artist's eye level, "A lot of people have been talking about you last term. You're quite the popular one, aren't you? Quite a feat that must be, especially when you've only been here for half a year."

"Er," Naminé gulped and pulled even harder on her hair; she could feel a few people's eyes on her back, "I've...I think I-I've heard about...something like that. P-people talking a-about me, I...I mean. I...I never wanted it, though - I'm not one for at-attention."

Mrs. Yamanouchi threw her head back and laughed, but it sounded more like a cackle than anything. "A modest one, you are! A little squeamish, but modest at the least!" She pressed one bony hand on the top of Naminé's head and gently patted her, like one would do when praising a dog. "That's a quality you should hold dear to for the rest of your life." She plucked a pen from her shirt pocket and quickly signed her slip. "There you go - I hope you enjoy the rest of your year, Naminé."

"Erm, I will, t-thanks." The blonde quickly turned around and shuffled back to her seat. She shook her head as she pushed her slip back into the side pocket of her messenger bag. "The first class hasn't even started yet and I'm already dreading this term."

Kairi laughed softly and patted her cousin's shoulder. "Don't worry so much - she seems to like you." She ducked behind her computer monitor when Mrs. Yamanouchi began to scan the rest of the class. "She seems to like you better than me, at least."

"She doesn't like you?"

"Ever since she caught Kairi texting in class it's never been the same." Sora chuckled, and Kairi glared at him.

"It's all your fault! You were the one that texted me first!" She leaned over her cousin to hiss at her boyfriend.

"Well, you didn't have to text me right away!"

Rolling her eyes, Naminé palmed both of their foreheads and pushed them away as soon as Mrs. Yamanouchi announced the start of class. It did not seem so complicated; there were a few simple math equations and it required a little bit of computer work but other than that Business looked like a passable class.

"It doesn't seem hard now," Sora chuckled as they left class, "But once we start getting to the problem solving and stuff your head's gonna start spinning."

Kairi frowned. "Plus Mrs. Yamanouchi sticks to you like flies to rotten food - she'll hunt you down if you don't finish your homework."

"Ah, I'm pretty sure I can handle it," Naminé shrugged, "It can't be worse than Math." She nodded towards the stairs leading to the third floor. "Anyway, time for me to head to Geography." She sighed as she reached for her hair. "Too bad we don't have lunch together."

The brunet's eyes drifted towards the ceiling and he placed his hands behind his head. "Hopefully Olette and them have lunch with you."

She laughed. "Yeah. I'll see you guys later." She waved and began to make her way up the stairs. When she entered her class minutes later she was surprised to see a familiar brunette waving to her from one of the desks closest to the windows.

"I was beginning to worry I wasn't going to have anybody in this class," Olette smiled as Naminé took the seat next to her, "Now I can breathe."

The blonde laughed softly as she bent over to grab her books out of her bag. "Do you know who our teacher is?"

Right on cue a lanky, too-thin man tottered into the room with his papers and books clutched to his skinny chest so tightly the blonde worried he was going to crush himself. His hair was thin, greying and combed over to the right, and his protuberant eyes were constantly shifting left to right as if he feared everything in the room. He sat down quietly at the desk in the front and gently placed his things in front of him; his shifty eyes continued to scan the room.

Naminé's head tilted to the side and her eyebrow quirked upwards. "Er, he seems a little…"

Olette giggled quietly. "Mr. Idane's a nice man once you get to know him. I know he's a little...off...but trust me, he isn't that bad." She tutted pitifully and shook her head. "A lot of students push him around, but it's kind of easy to see why." She nodded towards the artist's bag. "Don't you have to get him to sign something?"

"Ugh, I keep forgetting - thanks for reminding me," Naminé pulled her paper out of her bag and approached the front desk cautiously, fearing that any sudden movement would scare the poor man to death. When she finally reached the desk she smiled gently, though her hand was tugging on her hair. "Hello-"

"What?" Mr. Idane immediately looked up from the textbook he was reading and was staring at the girl with wide, frightened eyes. "Who are you? I've never seen you before. Why are you talking to me?"

The blonde blinked incredulously for a few seconds, speechless at his words. Why did she have to get all the weird teachers _this_ term? "Um, I'm a new student here - I came last term. My name is Naminé, Naminé Hinomoto." She slowly brought out the hand clutching her slip of paper, and he stared at it questionably. "You're supposed to sign this." She informed him with a raised eyebrow.

Mr. Idane 'ah-ed' in realization and pulled the paper out of her hand. "O-oh! Yes, yes - I was told I'd be expecting you," He grabbed a pen and signed the slip, "My name is Mr. Idane. It's nice to meet you, Naminé. I trust you'll enjoy this term."

She smiled and folded the paper carefully. "It's nice to meet you too, Mr. Idane." She turned around and made her way back to Olette, and when she sat down she shook her head in amusement. "What an odd guy - but he's nice, like you said he was."

Her brunette friend gave her a green-eyed wink. "Told you so."

There was the creaking sound of the door being swung open, and both girls automatically turned around to see who it was. Naminé's eyes widened at the slightest when she spotted the tousled blond spikes and the all-too-familiar dark blue eyes.

"Perfect," She muttered as she lowered her head, "As if fate can't give me any more signs of its severe hatred towards me..."

Olette frowned and turned to face her friend as Roxas moodily strolled over to a seat near the back. "I thought you said that he doesn't bother you anymore."

"Not as much," The artist sighed, running her fingers over her forehead, "I mean, I'm honestly fed up with the whole disappearing and coming back thing - who wouldn't, really - but if you haven't noticed I _always_ tell you guys that I'm over him, and then when I see him again I feel like I haven't moved on at all." She groaned and tugged frustratingly on her hair. "I'm so confused."

"Well, maybe this time it'll be different," The brunette shrugged, "When he comes back this time tell him how you really feel. Maybe that's why he keeps on disappearing: he's not sure if you feel the same way."

The blonde raised an eyebrow. _"The same way?_ I have no idea how he feels."

Her friend laughed softly. "It's kind of obvious, really." She briefly glanced over her shoulder and frowned at the solemn blond with his head on his desk. "People don't often act like themselves when they're in lo-"

"I know, I know," Naminé hastily cut in, her cheeks slightly flushed, "But...how are you sure he's going to come back this time? He seemed pretty serious a week and a half ago."

"He seemed pretty serious the first time too, but look what happened."

"Yeah, I got attacked and it compelled him to rescue me." The artist rolled her eyes. "Maybe I should just get drunk and egg Seifer on for old time's sake."

The brunette squirmed a little uncomfortably at the thought of that. "I think you guys have to actually sit down and seriously talk things out. That's the only thing you haven't done yet - you've got months of emotion built up in you, and I'm pretty sure he does too. You need to let that out somehow."

The artist laughed a little darkly. "If I did I'd probably end up killing him."

Mr. Idane finally rose on shaky legs and shyly announced the beginning of class. It was slow, but it was also tolerable because it was the first day. Every once in awhile Naminé found herself glancing over her shoulder to stare at the dismal blond sitting in the back row, only to discover that he was asleep on his desk.

When class ended she found out with disappointment that Olette had the third lunch period with Sora and Kairi, and according to the brunette Hayner and Pence had the first. The blonde was stuck with the second.

"Great," Naminé muttered as they walked out of Geography, "I might as well eat my lunch in the bathroom." Her eyes shifted around suspiciously, like she was looking for someone.

"I'm pretty sure you'll find something to occupy yourself with during lunchtime," Olette laughed, "Eating in the bathroom sounds unsanitary. Anyway, I should head to class. Hopefully your lunch won't be so bad."

The blonde half-heartily waved as she watched her friend disappear down the stairs. She frowned and leaned against the lockers, her stray strand of hair twirling around her index finger. She did not want to go to the cafeteria so quickly, not when she was not expecting anybody to be waiting for her. Sighing, she began to make her way towards the staircase, taking as much time as possible.

When she finally reached the cafeteria she sat at an empty table near the front, her cheeks flushed and her mouth quivering slightly. She enviously eyed the other occupied tables around the room, grimacing at the laughing faces and heads bent together in eager conversation. This was the first time this year where she truly felt like the new student.

A burst of laughter erupted from a table behind her, and she spun around to see where it came from. Her lungs relaxed a bit when she spotted Axel doubled over in hysterics as usual, and Demyx angrily muttering something beside him. When she spotted the familiar wayward blond spikes on the opposite side of the table she immediately turned around. No longer feeling hungry, she groaned and folded her arms on the table, resting her head on top of them.

"Heya kid." A familiar voice popped up from beside her, and she slowly looked up to see who it was. Axel was grinning down at her, wearing the leather jacket she gave him for Christmas; his silver lighter was flipping around in his hands. "You look so lonely - where are your other friends?"

Naminé's eyes briefly flitted over to the table her friend was previously occupying, and she raised an eyebrow when she found it to be quite vacant. "Um, they all have the other lunches."

"Aw," Demyx appeared from behind the pyromaniac and waved at her, "Well, at least you've got us!"

The blonde smiled, but her hand was tugging on her hair. "You guys are hardly going to be at school after today, and don't you have other friends to spend lunch with?"

"Nah," The taller blond scoffed, "All of us got a letter in the mail a couple of days ago - said that if we're absent for one more day we're not gonna graduate, so we're kinda forced to attend school now. Larxene and Zexion have the first lunch, and R-" Axel rammed his elbow into the blond's ribs and he cried out in pain. "-OW!" Demyx rubbed his side and glared at the redhead, who was rolling his eyes. "What the hell was that for?!"

Axel gently reached for Naminé's wrist and pulled her to her feet. "C'mon, let's get some lunch." He led her out of the cafeteria and into the cold January weather. He shrugged out of his jacket and threw it on the smallest blonde's shoulders; it was even bigger on her than Roxas' blazer, and it smelled like a mixture of leather and burnt wood.

She could not help but smile up at her friend. "Aw," She started, but the redhead gave her a pointed stare and she kept her mouth shut. It was not enough to keep her from giggling, however.

When they approached the familiar beaten up truck Demyx scrambled into the back, courteously giving her the passenger's seat. The ride to the ramen shop felt shorter than usual with Axel and Demyx's pointless but nonetheless entertaining bickering. They continued to be a source of entertainment when they arrived at the ramen shop, even to the point where she was laughing so hard she could not eat her soup properly. Even though this probably had to be one the best lunch periods she ever had she could not help but feel like there was something - or someone - missing.

Naminé was still ecstatic when they returned to school, mainly because she now had Art, her favourite subject. After gratefully handing back Axel's jacket she scrambled to the Arts Wing and opened the door, marveling at the classroom. There were paintings and other kinds of artwork everywhere, and there were even models and sculptures stacked in the corner and hanging from the ceiling.

"Hey, Naminé!" She turned her head to see Pence waving at her from one of the tables. She grinned as she made her way over to him, happy that she had a friend in this class. The chubby boy smiled and scratched the back of his head. "I kind of expected you to be in this class."

She flushed at his comment. "You're into art too?"

He nodded. "Photography, to be more specific." He reached into his bag and pulled out a black camera. "I personally find it fun and interesting when you try to capture a piece of the world from a different perspective."

"I know what you mean." She smiled. The door opened and a tall, eccentric-looking young woman with thick, black-framed glasses and short, layered electric pink hair walked - actually it looked more like she _danced -_ into the room with a large portfolio bag hanging off one shoulder. The blonde reached for her slip and leapt out of her chair.

"Oh?" The woman glanced up from her desk and noticed the shy blonde standing in front. "I reckon you're the new student?" Her voice was delicately laced with an Australian accent; she gently pulled the slip of paper from her hands and squinted at the name typed at the top. Her eyes lit up and she grinned excitedly. "Oh, you're Naminé Hinomoto! I'm so glad to finally meet you! I'm Miss Akechi, your Art teacher for this term!" She stood up from her chair and shook the blonde's hand so hard her entire body began to shake.

Naminé, obviously confused, blinked once or twice before coming up with something to say. "Um, you've heard of me before?"

Miss Akechi laughed loudly, and it caught the poor blonde by surprise. "Who hasn't?" She brushed her fingers through her hot pink hair and leaned forward on her arms, eagerly peering into Naminé's frightened face. "Your cousin's told me a great deal about you, you know. Said that you're an _amazing_ artist."

She blinked again. "Y-you know my cousin?"

"Yes, yes I do," Miss Akechi sang, "Kairi took Fashion Design last year and last term, and I, of course, also teach that. She seems to hold you in high regard, Naminé - _oh, _you have such a pretty name!" She clapped her hands together and the blonde's eyes widened at the sudden change of topic. "I _adore_ names with accents - Naminé, Naminé, Naminé - so unusual, so unique, so..._different._ A little lengthy, though, in my opinion. Mind if I call you Mimi?"

_Mimi?_ "Er, sure, I don't see why not."

"Brilliant!" Miss Akechi quickly signed the slip and returned it. "I'll be looking forward to seeing your work, Mimi!"

Naminé forced on a smile. "Y-yeah, I'll try my best." She shuffled back to her desk and shook her head as she pushed her slip back into her bag. _"Mimi? _That's a name I'd give to my pet miniature poodle, if I ever get one!"

Pence laughed. "Yeah, Miss Akechi's a little, er, _unique, _but it's what makes her a great teacher."

Art class definitely was going to be entertaining with Miss Akechi; she even made the introductory lecture appealing with the way she danced across the room to point at various pieces of art and the way she sang her lessons instead of talked. By the end of class Naminé was a little disappointed that it was over.

"That was...interesting," The blonde chuckled as her and Pence made their way out of class. She checked her schedule and sighed at the last class. "But now I've got to deal with Science. Urgh."

"Just hope you'll have someone with you," Pence winked, "It always makes time pass faster when you've got a friend in class. Anyway, I gotta run. I'll see you later, Naminé!"

"Bye." She waved half-heartedly as her friend disappeared around the corner, and she sighed as she spun around to make her way out of the building. She walked to the Math and Science Wing as quickly as she could before the cold got to her, and she raised an eyebrow when she looked at her schedule again; she had to go downstairs instead of upstairs this time, which meant she had to go underground into the basement.

It was definitely darker under here, and colder too. The hallway was narrow and empty, and some of the lights overhead were flickering; it kind of reminded her of a scene from a horror movie. Pushing the uncomfortable thought out of her head she gulped and quickened her pace, scanning the doors for her class. She finally found it and wrenched the door open; the class looked like any other classroom in the school, except that there were long lab tables with various kinds of equipment on them. The room also had no windows.

There was a middle-aged man sitting by the front desk, obviously the teacher. She hurried over to him and handed over her slip. "Hi, I'm Naminé-"

"Hinomoto," He finished for her, his eyes poring over her crumpled slip of paper, "My name is Mr. Erizawa." He glanced up at her as he handed the slip back; there was no trace of emotion on his face. "I trust you'll be enjoying the rest of your term, Miss Hinomoto." His voice was just as monotonous as his expression.

"Erm, thank you." She moved to sit behind one of the desks in the middle row. Her eyes would occasionally slide over to the door whenever it opened, hoping to see somebody she knew, but she always came up empty. There was only one minute until class started and she was ready to grudgingly accept the fact that she was going to be alone in this class, but when she spotted Roxas trudge through the door her heart leapt to her throat. She forced her gaze to the front of the class as she heard his heavy footsteps slowly making their way to a table at the back, and she inhaled sharply when she heard his head thunk on the table.

"Alright," Mr. Erizawa stood up slowly and yawned; he looked as unenthusiastic as the students, "I'm Mr. Erizawa, your Science teacher. I'd like to start off by telling you all that I've made a planned seating arrangement for the duration of this term." The class made not-so-subtle noises of protest as he reached for a sheet of paper on his desk. "When I tell you to move to a certain spot, please do so immediately after I tell you."

The artist's pale fingers were stiff, trembling claws gripping the edge of her table; this definitely did not sound good. If fate _really_ hated her…

"Roxas Katsura, please move beside Naminé Hinomoto."

Yep, she knew it. Fate hated her with every fibre of its being.

She scooted as close to the edge as possible as he approached her; he lazily tossed his leather book bag on the desk and threw himself on the stool, throwing his arms on the surface of the desk and resting his head in them. His messy blond spikes wavered slightly as he shifted around, trying to get comfortable, and she could feel her fingertips tingling. Mr. Erizawa continued to call out the rest of the students, and when everyone was done moving around class finally started.

It was hard to pay attention when Roxas was _right_ beside her. The fact that he was apparently sleeping made it easier for her eyes to 'accidentally' drift over to him.

_This shouldn't bother you, _her conscience chided, _he doesn't mean anything to you anymore. He's just a classmate. A kid sitting next to you in Science class._

She forced down the lump in her throat as her fingers subconsciously brushed over her necklace. A part of her did not want to wear it, but she felt that if she did not wear it anymore he was never going to come back to her.

_Why should it matter? He's flaked on you too many times already - surely you should know by now that this is a lost cause._

It is so not a lost cause. There has to be a reason why he keeps coming back.

_He's too unpredictable. Would it be safe to let someone like him into your heart?_

What if she already has?

The thought caused her cheeks to heat up, and she lowered her head a little so nobody would see. She inwardly groaned and tried to pay attention to the front of the class but it was useless; her thoughts were focused solely on the blond boy sleeping beside her.

The bell finally rang and she almost leapt out of her seat from relief. She glanced at him one last time before turning around and leaving the room.

"I'm glad you like Miss Akechi," Kairi said as they made their way to the car ten or so minutes later; she stuffed her face into her scarf to suppress her snorting. "I had a feeling she was going to like you, _Mimi."_

The blonde shook her head as she unlocked the car. "Besides the weird nickname I think Art will be fun - it'll be better than Science, at least."

"I don't think you've got much to worry about," Kairi shrugged as they clambered inside, "He's most likely going to be sleeping most of the time, so you won't have to deal with him."

"I guess," Naminé frowned as she turned around to dump her bag in the back seat, "But I think it's the fact that he's _right_ there that's bothering me, you know?" She sighed in exasperation as she turned the key into the ignition. "He always has to show up when I'm just about over him - sometimes I wonder if he's doing this just to spite me."

"No, it can't be on purpose," Her cousin shook her head, "If it was he wouldn't be asleep all the time - he'd be trying to rub it in your face or something. I think it's fate that you guys keep getting pulled together again after being ripped apart."

"Olette says that if I somehow tell him how I feel, maybe he'll stay for sure." The artist mumbled in a voice so low Kairi had to lean in to her her properly.

"It might work," The redhead shrugged, "You just need to help him sort out his own feelings. He seems more confused than you are at the moment, since he's the one coming and going all the time."

"Maybe." Naminé mumbled as she backed out of the parking space. Once they arrived home the blonde trudged up to her room and gently closed the door behind her, her head swimming with memories of earlier today. She wandered over to the large window on the opposite wall and pried the lacy curtains apart, peering outside at the lavish back property of the Hinomoto manor. The snow was still covering the garden, and the sky was still an ugly grey. Sighing, she turned around and headed towards her studio, her fingers tangled in her hair.

She eyed her easel and briefly contemplated on whether she should set up a new canvas, but then an idea popped into her head and she reached into her schoolbag instead. She pulled out the leather bound sketchbook Tidus gave her for Christmas; the leather was soft and worn from being opened so many times, and half of the pages were already used.

She dropped her bag to the floor and shrugged out of her jacket as she returned to the main room; she crawled onto her bed and pressed her back against the pillows as she opened her sketchbook. Her eyes quickly scanned her previous works as she flipped through the pages; she caught a glimpse of spiky hair, bars of sea-salt ice cream, an acoustic guitar and the pendants of her necklace. The pages that have been used were crinkled and worn with the hours she spent perfecting her work.

When she finally stopped on a fresh, smooth page she immediately pressed her pencil to the paper and began to work her wonders. Her hand flitted across the page as she sketched; her brow knitted together in concentration as she tried to replicate the image she had in her head. Her frustration, her sadness, her confusion ebbed away with every stroke of her pencil, and by the time she was finished with her drawing the sky was dark and she felt absolutely nothing inside.

Her fingers subconsciously ran over her sketch of the boy bent over the table with his arms pillowing his head, a frown tugging on the corners of her mouth. She had drawn out her feelings for today, draining herself of the ache that had been terrorizing her ever since Geography class. It was almost like taking a bath to remove the dirt; the pain would disappear with every new drawing, but a new pain would accumulate overtime and she would eventually have to draw again. In order to get rid of the pain she would have to sketch out another memory.

She stared at her lead-stained fingertips for a moment before closing and locking her sketchbook for today. She tucked it back into her bag and rolled off the bed to head to her closet. She emerged minutes later in her nightwear and trudged to the bathroom to wash up for bed. It still felt early out, but drawing for hours at a time always made her feel so tired afterwards. She pressed the back of her hand against her mouth to stifle a yawn as she pulled the sheets over her tiny form, and when she finally eased into the mattress she sighed into the soft down pillows.

She knew she was going to be able to sleep tonight; it always felt relieving after she finished a picture. Not even her horrid memories of New Years were enough to penetrate the unusual bout of serenity that blanketed over her tonight. Maybe it was the thought of a new term that relaxed her - it was always nice to know that life was still willing to give her second chances.

At least something was working in her favour today.

--

_A/N: The last part of the chapter was partially inspired by Tegan and Sara's _Soil, Soil.


	24. Found You

_A/N: Early update 'cause even I'm eager to continue on with the story =)_

_--_

**Found You.**

It was still bitterly cold when February rolled around, much to everyone's chagrin. Even Sora was getting frustrated.

"Stupid icy roads," The brunet complained as the threesome made their way to Business; he gently slapped his face in a poor attempt to get the blood flowing again, "Stupid cold wind."

"I thought you liked winter." Kairi's nose was still a bit red from the cold.

Naminé would have been actively participating in the conversation if she was not distracted by the bright red, pink and white poster they had just walked past. Her head tilted to the side and she broke apart from Kairi and Sora to wander back to the poster. She shook her head at the ridiculous headline.

"You've got to be kidding me." She snorted, shaking her head again.

"What is it?" Her cousin approached her from behind, and she took a few seconds to read the poster. "Oh, I almost forgot about Valentines."

"What about Valentines?" Sora jogged to his girlfriend's side and glanced upwards at the poster. "Ohh…"

The poster the three teens were looking at advertised the upcoming Valentines Day dance being held in the school...ballroom?

"Wait, wait, wait," Naminé was shaking her head for the third time in the past five minutes, "Brighton has a _ballroom?"_

"Yeah," Kairi raised an eyebrow, "Where else would we have Dance?"

"I dunno, the gym?" The redhead's expression did not change and the artist sighed. Damn rich kids. "Anyway, are you guys thinking of going?"

Sora and Kairi exchanged strange looks, and for a split second Naminé thought they were going to whirl around and stare at her with wide, disbelieving eyes and shout 'OBVIOUSLY!' at the same time but when they burst out in laughter she was the one staring with wide eyes.

"Are you kidding?" Kairi guffawed, "How cheesy and cliché does a Valentines Day high school dance sound to you?"

Sora chuckled and pushed his hands into the pockets of his blazer. "Yeah, where's the originality in taking your date to a school dance? I don't think I'd even use it as a last resort!"

A hot blush spread over the poor blonde's cheeks and her eyes dropped to her shoes. "Er, well...I dunno, I'm not very sharp on these kinds of things-"

The brunet chuckled quietly and rubbed the back of his head. "Well, we better head to homeroom before Mrs. Yamanouchi bites our heads off."

Homeroom was as eventual as the artist expected it to be; Kairi and Sora bickered like their relationship depended on it, and she would always be caught in between - literally, since she sat in between them. Naminé was so immersed in trying to stop their fighting that she found it difficult to concentrate in class; how her cousin and her boyfriend managed a healthy relationship, she would never know.

Though the trio did not care for the dance everybody else in school did; the girls in Geography were animatedly chatting about what kind of dress they were going to wear and the boys they wanted to go with. Thankfully Olette was not one of those girls so the blonde was able to have a sane, civilized conversation with her when Mr. Idane gave them a work period.

"The Valentines dance is always a big thing in this school, though I don't really see why," The brunette shrugged, "It's like any other school dance."

"Yeah, it's so typical," The artist muttered, "'Cause y'know, every school dance is held in a pretty ballroom with waiters wandering around with plates of hors d'oeuvres." She frowned and tugged on her hair as Olette pressed a hand to her mouth to stifle her laughter. "Valentines Day is so overrated."

"It is," Her friend agreed once she calmed down, "But I don't know...sometimes it's nice. You get to spend time with somebody that means a lot to you, and for some people they don't have the chance to do that on a daily basis. It's kind of nice to see people push aside their schedules just to be with each other."

A lump formed in the blonde's throat for some reason and she forced it down. "Y-yeah, I guess so."

Lunch finally came and Naminé was actually excited; ever since the first day of term she had been spending it with Axel and Demyx. Not only did they keep her entertained, they also kept the gossiping students at bay with their intimidating demeanor.

"It pisses me off at how people are _still_ yapping about what happened," The pyromaniac shook his head in amusement as he flipped his lighter around in his hands, "New Years was _sooo_ one month ago."

"Mmhmm," Demyx had stuffed a forkful of lasagna into his mouth and therefore was unable to speak properly, "I fink if fery, _fery_ childish."

Naminé giggled at his lack of table manners. "Well, as long as you're around they won't be talking about it as much, right?" She eyed Axel's black school bag resting on the chair beside him and tilted her head to the side. "Speaking of being around...how's the schoolwork coming along?"

Axel threw her a smug smile and dug into his bag. He fished out a crumpled piece of paper and tossed it over to her. "See for yourself."

"Wow," She gaped as she flattened the paper against the cafeteria table, "You scored _perfect_ on your Physics test?" She glanced up at him suspiciously. "You didn't cheat, did you?"

The redhead snatched his paper back, offended. "Just because I never go to school doesn't mean I can't _do_ school!" He stuffed it back into his bag and hastily zipped it. "All it took was a bit of self-perseverance and a few lessons from Zexion, then bam - instant perfection!"

"Don't worry," Demyx leaned in to murmur in her ear, "I was surprised too."

"I heard that," Axel glowered at the blond and shook his lighter in his direction, "You wanna keep that mullet of yours? Then you better keep your mouth shut!"

"It's not a mullet!"

"You guys fight like Kairi and Sora," Naminé rolled her eyes, "An old married couple, that's what you are."

Both boys immediately whirled around to gape at her. _"WHAT?!"_ They glanced at each other, and then stubbornly looked away. The artist giggled and shook her head, but chose not to say anything else.

When lunch ended she had to race back to her locker to grab a few of her art supplies. She hurriedly spun her locker and pulled the door open, only to gape at the strange pink flower sitting on the top shelf.

"Eh?" She stood on her tiptoes to grab it and she turned it over and over in her hands. There was no tag, just a single black ribbon tied in a bow around the centre of the stem.

She absently fingered the velvety petals as she rummaged through her locker for her art supplies, and she even brought it with her to Art class. She showed Pence the pale pink flower, and he was just as confused as she was.

"This person can't keep track of the days," The black-haired boy chuckled, "Valentines isn't until next Tuesday!"

"That, and who else would know my locker combination besides me?" Naminé held the flower up by the stem in between her thumb and forefinger, squinting at it. "So weird." She held it close to her face, the soft petals brushing against the underside of her nose as she sniffed; its delicate, sweet fragrance was intoxicating and she was compelled to sniff it again. When she finally pulled away from it there was a light pink spread across her cheeks.

Coincidentally today's lesson was sketching, and in the last half of the class students were supposed to sketch an inanimate object and hand it in. Naminé already knew what she was going to draw.

"I guess it was smart to bring it in with you." Pence smiled, and she flushed as she reached for her favourite leather sketchbook.

"Fantabulous!" Miss Akechi squealed when Naminé handed in her sketch at the end of class, "You never cease to amaze me, Mimi. This...this is better than the real camellia!"

"C-camellia, Miss?"

Miss Akechi reached for the flower in Naminé's hands. Her thin fingers stroked the petals slowly, almost lovingly. "This flower's called a camellia - it's very rare to find one around here. How did you manage to get one?"

The blonde tugged on her hair, confused. "Erm, I actually just found it in my locker before class."

Miss Akechi's eyes widened behind her glasses. "Oh, really now? How sweet, though Valentines isn't for another few days…"

Naminé frowned. "I know - that's why I'm so confused."

Her Art teacher shrugged and waved one hand dismissively. "Well, I guess you have some time to figure it all out. You better get to your next class now, Mimi."

Science was hard to pay attention to because she spent most of the period staring at the camellia. She rubbed the tip of her index finger across its petals as Mr. Erizawa droned on about atoms or whatever the lecture was about. Her eyes automatically slid over to the empty seat beside her, and then she looked back at her flower.

No, it was not possible. He was not even here today!

Plus, why would _he _give her a flower?

Still, the thought of it made her face burn.

The bell rang, startling her and causing her to yelp in surprise. Everyone gave her odd looks and she laughed nervously, cleared her throat and dashed out of the classroom. Her face was still red when she met Kairi by her locker.

"What's with the flower? You've got a secret admirer _already?"_ The redhead laughed as her cousin's face went even redder, "Wow, Nami, I really don't know what to say this time."

"It was just sitting in my locker when I came to get my stuff for Art," Naminé pulled on her hair with the hand that was not holding the camellia, "Out of the hundreds of other kids that go to this school _I'm _the one with the anonymous flower! _Me! _The new kid!"

"It's so mysterious," Kairi's fingers grazed the rose's petals as they left the SS Wing, "I've never seen this kind of flower before."

"Miss Akechi said that it's called a camellia," The artist explained as they climbed into the car, "She also said it's uncommon around here."

"Hm, then whoever gave this to you must either traveled somewhere to get it or they have an exotic garden," The redhead frowned as she buckled her seatbelt, "Then again if they did have an exotic garden there wouldn't be any flowers. It's too cold."

"Unless they have a greenhouse." Naminé shrugged. She placed the camellia on the dashboard and turned her key into the ignition.

"Y'know, maybe you should search this up," Her cousin suggested, "There's gotta be a reason why this person gave you this flower."

"Why would searching up the flower help me figure that out?"

"Geez, Nami, you're not one for romantics are you?" The blonde blushed at her cousin's words. "You know every flower has a meaning, right?"

"Er, I do now." She mumbled as she switched lanes.

"Well, if you search up the meaning of this flower maybe you'll find out your secret admirer's intentions." Kairi scratched the side of her head.

"I-intentions?" For some reason Naminé's face was beginning to heat up.

"Yes, Nami," The redhead wiggled her eyebrows suggestively, and the blonde rolled her eyes, "Usually when somebody gives you flowers close to Valentines itmeans something."

"Well I'll admit that the flower idea's cute, but at the same time the fact that there's a chance a complete stranger's giving me this is kinda creepy." She turned into the Hinomoto roundabout; Takai was already waiting by the front doors. "I hardly know anybody at school except for you guys."

"Maybe it isn't a complete stranger, then." Kairi shrugged her shoulders as she stepped out of the car.

The blonde's cheeks grew even warmer. "Yeah, that definitely makes me feel better." She huffed as her cousin laughed. The girls entered the mansion and raced up to Naminé's room; the both of them were eager to find out what the pink camellia was trying to tell the blonde. Kairi left temporarily to fetch a vase for the flower as Naminé booted up the computer.

"Wow," The blonde gaped at the long list of flowers on her computer monitor as soon as her cousin re-entered the room with a small crystal vase partially filled with water, "That's a lot of flowers."

The redhead dropped the rose into the vase and placed it on her cousin's bedside table. She strode over to the work desk and peered over the blonde's shoulder. "That's great, Nami - now go look for yours!"

"Oh, right." She scrolled down the list for a few minutes, sifting through the different flowers and their meanings. Some were innocent and platonic, while some were very tacky and kind of cliché. "Ah, found it!"

Kairi leaned in even closer. "What does it say?" She asked eagerly, squinting at the screen.

"Erm," Naminé's eyes traveled along the text on the screen, "Apparently the pink camellia means…" Her pale blue depths widened and her cheeks flared a hot red, "Oh my."

Kairi took a few seconds to read it, and when she was finished her eyes were as wide as her cousin's. _"I long for you?" _She echoed the words on the computer screen, and she shook her head in disbelief. "Wow, Nami, someone's really pining for you."

The way she said it, the blonde knew she was implying something. She swiveled around in her office chair and glared up at her cousin. "I know who you're thinking of, and I strongly disagree."

The redhead rolled her eyes and moved to sit on the foot of her cousin's bed. "Alright, then tell me - who else could it possibly be?"

The artist threw her hands up and shook her head. "I dunno, but it can't be him! He wasn't in school today, so how could he have put that in my locker? Oh, and another thing - nobody knows my locker combination except _me! _How could a freaking flower get in there when no one can open it?"

Kairi's eyes dulled. "Do we have to go through this again? Remember what Riku told you about Roxas' _hidden talent?"_

"Yes, yes," The blonde muttered, "I've taken that into consideration too, but it still doesn't make sense. He'd only have time to break into my locker if he was at school, and he wasn't today!" She groaned and buried her face in her hands. "It can't be him, Kairi. It can't."

"I still think he's the one behind it."

"If he is, this isn't making things any better," Naminé spat, "He's pulling me in - or at least trying to - again, and the worst part about it is that I _know_ I'll fall for it." She pulled her face away from her hands and stared forlornly at her shoes. "I always do."

"You can only hope." Her cousin gave her an apologetic smile before getting up to leave the room.

When the blonde woke up the next morning the first thing her eyes laid on was the crystal vase sitting on her bedside table. A lump formed in her throat as she caressed the soft pink petals with her fingers, though she had no idea why.

She tried paying attention to Sora and Kairi's conversation as they made their way to her locker like they always did before homeroom, but she was too distracted in her own thoughts.

"Nami, we're at your locker." Kairi grabbed her sleeve before she could walk any further.

The blonde turned beet red in embarrassment. "S-sorry." She spun her locker and yanked it open; a yellow tulip toppled out from the top shelf and right into her hand. Like the pink camellia there was no tag, but a single black ribbon tied around its stem.

"Another one?" Kairi exclaimed as she peered over her cousin's shoulder.

"You got one yesterday too?" Sora scratched his head.

"Y-yeah," Naminé mumbled as she twisted the tulip's stem in between her thumb and forefinger, "But it was a different flower."

"I wonder what this one means." The redhead smirked, and the artist's face reddened even more.

School was agonizingly slow because of the blonde's anticipation to find out what the tulip meant. When it finally ended she practically dragged her cousin out of the SS Wing and pushed her into her car. The drive home only took five minutes because she went at least ten kilometres over the speed limit.

"This is the first time I've ever seen you so eager," Kairi laughed, "I'm impressed."

"Shaddup." Naminé forced herself down on her office chair and turned her computer on.

"Huh," Kairi squinted at the screen and eyed the definition for the yellow tulip, "At least this one isn't as cheesy."

The blonde's face was so red it almost looked purple. "What are you talking about? How does _there's sunshine in your smile _not sound cheesy to you?" She stood up to drop the tulip into the crystal vase. "Now I have to wait 'till Monday to figure out what else my locker has in store for me."

"Was Roxas at school today?" Kairi moved to sit beside her. When her cousin shook her head she frowned. "Hm, odd - but I still think he's our culprit."

"Drop it," The artist groaned as she flopped backwards on her bed, "I don't want to bring my hopes up."

On Saturday she decided to hang out with Axel. Since it was too cold to stay out in alleyways they spent the afternoon having ramen at Ken's shop.

"Flowers, huh?" The pyromaniac chuckled as he swirled the noodles around with his chopsticks, "How romantic."

"Do you have any idea who might be behind all this? It's driving me crazy," Naminé shook her head and pulled on her hair with her free hand, "Kairi thinks it's Roxas but he hasn't been in school the past two days, so I doubt it."

"Ah, you'll never know," Axel shrugged, "He always manages to get things done one way or another."

She raised an eyebrow. "So you know."

"No, no," He shook his head, "I don't - I actually haven't gotten the chance to talk to him in the past couple of days. He's been, er, busy."

"You're hesitating," She prodded, "You're hiding something!"

His eyes widened and he leaned back in his chair. "No I'm not."

"Axel…"

"Honest," He held one hand up as if he was swearing an oath, "I do not know a _thing_ about these flowers you speak of, and I do not know if there is a connection between said flowers and Roxas."

The artist narrowed her eyes. "You better not be lying."

"Hey, I just said I was being honest!"

She rolled her eyes and attempted to finish off the rest of her soup.

So Axel was not much of a help - she was kind of hoping he would know something. Did that really mean that it _was_ possible that the person giving her these flowers was not Roxas? As much as she denied it on the outside, in reality he was the only one she really wanted to accept flowers from.

Riku, Sora and Kairi tried to distract her on Sunday with an afternoon at Common Ground and some video games at the Hinomoto Manor but it was not enough; the blonde was so immersed in her worrying over what kind of flower she was going to find in her locker the next day that her friends had to resort to screaming in her ear just to get her attention.

"They're flowers," Riku chuckled, "What's there to worry about?"

"Unless you're allergic then I don't see what the problem is." Sora added with a grin on his face.

The Hinomoto girls rolled their eyes. "Boys…"

Monday finally rolled around, and the minute Naminé parked in the student parking lot and turned off the engine she threw herself out of the car and raced towards the SS Building. She could hear Kairi laughing behind her as she burst up the stairs, and she could not help but grin stupidly to herself as she approached her locker.

"Okay, you have to admit that this _is_ a little exciting." Kairi giggled once she finally caught up to her.

"Just a tad." The artist replied shyly, though her grin was broader than ever. She wrenched her locker door open and stood on her tiptoes to glance up at the top shelf; like she expected, there was a flower waiting for her. She knew this one too: it was a red carnation.

"Ooh," Her redheaded cousin leaned over her shoulder to see, "It's so red!"

"Found another one?" Sora had just arrived, looking a little flustered. He was probably wondering why the girls were not downstairs to meet him like they always were. When he spotted the crimson-petaled flower in the blonde's pale hands he chuckled and shook his head. "Thought so."

"Hey, maybe we don't have to wait 'till after school to figure out what it means," Kairi smirked mischievously as they began to walk towards homeroom, "We can just check it on the computers in class!"

Naminé tugged uneasily on her hair. "But what if Mrs. Yama-"

"She doesn't hover over you because she likes you, remember? There's nothing to worry about!"

"But she doesn't like you." Sora pointed out, and Kairi hit him over the head with her textbook.

Kairi was right, however; during class Mrs. Yamanouchi would peruse between desks to check if students were doing anything else on the computers besides Business work, but for some reason she never came across Naminé, Kairi and Sora's row.

"C'mon, just do it!" The redhead whispered eagerly, and Naminé sighed as she booted up the internet browser. She typed in 'red carnation' in the search engine and clicked on the first available link. She scanned the article quickly, but she did not find what she was looking for until the very last paragraph.

Naminé's cheeks were so red they rivaled the petals of her red carnation.

"Lemme see!" Sora leaned over her to read the article, and when he was finished his eyes widened. _"My heart aches for you?"_ He snorted and covered his mouth with one hand. "What kind of sap would give a girl _that?"_

"Aw," Kairi gushed, "Someone really, _really_ likes you, Nami."

_"My heart aches for you,"_ Naminé whispered as her fingers traced the soft red petals; her face somehow managed to redden even more and she sighed shakily, "Ugh, I don't know how I'm going to be able to concentrate for the rest of the day."

"I don't think I'll be able to either," Her cousin was shaking her head, "This is getting really interesting now. Your secret admirer better not be so secretive tomorrow!"

"Yeah," Sora scratched his head, "Even I'm intrigued."

Like Naminé predicted the rest of the day went by pretty slow due to the fact that she could not concentrate on anything else but the red carnation. Axel and Demyx poked fun at her during lunch for acting so spaced out, but when she showed them the carnation their reactions were quite interesting.

"Huh?" Demyx's head tilted to the side, and he was squinting at the red flower in between Naminé's fingers. "Now _that_ looks-"

Axel punched him in the shoulder so hard he toppled off his chair. "Hm, that makes it three flowers now, doesn't it?"

Naminé ducked underneath the table. "Erm, Demyx, are you okay?"

The taller blond immediately scrambled back onto his chair and rubbed his aching shoulder. He glared at Axel for a split second, and then returned his attention to the small blonde sitting across from him. "Y-yeah, I'm fine. I'm kinda used to it, actually."

The artist gently placed the flower on the table. "What were you saying before you were so rudely interrupted?"

"Uh-" Demyx gulped, trying to avoid the pyromaniac's penetrating glare, "-er, I was just wondering how someone could find such a perfect flower this time of year! It's still snowy out!"

The smaller blonde raised an eyebrow, unconvinced. "Er…"

Axel leaned forward on his arms and folded his hands underneath his chin. "So, whaddya think you'll find in your locker tomorrow?"

"Um…" She tugged absently on her hair, "Well, that's what I'm afraid of. It's Valentines tomorrow, so anything can happen, right?"

The redhead shrugged his shoulders. "I suppose." His voice was very vague and cryptic, and it only confused the artist more.

When school finally ended Naminé dashed up to her room to pop her new flower into the crystal vase, adding one more to her collection. The pink camellia was surprisingly still in good shape; none of its petals had fallen out yet, and it retained its pale pink hue.

The moment she looked at the vase with all three flowers in it she was reminded of Kairi's theory, but it still did not make any sense: Roxas had been absent in the past three school days in which she had received these flowers, so it could not be possible - or maybe the reason why he was not at school was because he really was the one who snuck into her locker with those flowers...

But why would he come to school to break into her locker, pop in a flower and then just leave right after?

The artist frustratingly pulled on her hair as she forced herself to start her homework. She tried to focus on her Science questions but her mind was too preoccupied - plus the thought of what to expect for tomorrow that was bothering her. It was freaking Valentines...was she supposed to expect something more than just a single flower?

If homework was difficult to do that day, then sleep was an impossibility. She spent the night tossing and turning relentlessly, trying to force the thoughts out of her head. The practical part of her was trying to convince her that this secret admirer was somebody that was _not_ Roxas, and the wishful part of her was trying to tell her that this secret admirer _was_ Roxas; it was as if her heart and head were duking it out, and her body was suffering the consequences.

By morning she was in horrendous shape; every inch of her body ached from lack of sleep, and there were dark half-moons underneath her bloodshot eyes. She groaned and thunked her forehead against the steering wheel, way too tired to drive.

Kairi was hesitant, obviously fearing for her own safety. "Um, maybe we should get Takai-"

"No," Her cousin's head jerked upwards from its spot on the steering wheel and she automatically pushed the key into the ignition, "I'm fine."

She managed to drive to school without dozing off, but the moment she stepped out of her car her mood already began to worsen. Fate decided to rub the painful truth in her face today: there were couples _everywhere, _and all of them had a serious case of PDA. Even Kairi was mildly disgusted.

"Geez," The redhead crinkled her nose as they passed by a couple whose mouths seemed to be permanently attached to each other, "At least stop to breathe every few minutes."

"I don't know what you're talking about," Naminé was staring up at the grey sky, desperate to look at something that was _not_ a couple expressing their undying love for one another, "All I see are clouds. I think it might even rain today."

Kairi laughed. "You're so weird." She pushed open the doors to the SS Wing and walked into the main foyer. Sora was waiting for them by the foot of the stairs as usual, but there was something about him that seemed a little different.

"Er, Happy Valentines," He shyly brought out his hands, which were occupied with a heart-shaped box full of chocolates and a pink sheet of paper rolled up and tied together with a red ribbon. He leaned forward to peck his girlfriend on the lips. "It isn't much, but-"

Kairi laughed and captured the brunet in a bone-crushing hug; Sora was so surprised by the hug that he nearly dropped the gifts. Naminé wordlessly stepped back to give them space, but she could not help but grin as she watched her two friends. "I told you not to get me anything, stupid," The redhead shook her head as she took the chocolates and the pink scroll from Sora's hands, "But thanks anyway."

"But I didn't get you anything," He countered as they began to walk up the stairs to Naminé's locker, "I _made_ you something instead!"

"Aw," Naminé giggled as her cousin blushed, "That's so sweet of you, Sora."

"Well, I had to find a loophole somehow," He grinned, "It's not right to give nothing to your girlfriend on Valentines Day!"

"Wait a minute," Kairi gestured to the heart-shaped box, "So you _made_ this?"

"Well," The brunet rubbed the back of his neck, "I didn't make the chocolates, but I made the box."

"Wow," Both of the girls answered simultaneously, and the only male in the group flushed in embarrassment. Kairi shook her head in amusement and pecked him on the cheek. "You obviously had someone with you while you were doing all this - who helped out?"

"Er," Sora's reluctance to answer his girlfriend's question confused the two girls; suddenly his expression lit up and he pointed towards something in front of them. "Hey, we're at Naminé's locker!"

"Ooh," The redhead excitedly clapped her hands together, her question evidently forgotten, "Time to reveal your secret admirer, Nami!"

The blonde's heart thumped sporadically against her ribcage as she neared her locker, and she could feel her palms growing damp from the sweat gathering there. She gulped as she spun her lock, and she closed her eyes in fear as she swung her door open.

"Holy-" Kairi started, but she placed a hand over her mouth to quiet herself. Sora did not even say anything - maybe he was too speechless.

"What?" Naminé's eyes were still closed, "Is it bad?"

She could hear Sora chuckling behind her. "See for yourself."

The blonde sucked in a deep breath and finally opened her eyes. She stood on her tiptoes and glanced at the top shelf, and when she saw what was lying there she nearly stumbled backwards in shock. She reached forward with trembling hands and pulled out a bouquet of the reddest roses she had ever seen in her entire life. In the centre of the bouquet, however, was a different flower: it was long and violet - a hyacinth.

"No tag, just like the others," Kairi murmured thoughtfully; she fingered the black ribbon tied at the bottom, "And there's this again."

"We obviously know what red roses mean," Naminé mumbled, her face almost as red as the dozen flowers she was holding in her hands, "But the hyacinth, we still have to figure out."

Sora jerked his head towards the end of the hall. "Well, we better head to homeroom and find out."

When the blonde entered the classroom with her bouquet nearly every girl in the class turned to gawk at her. She could not help but feel a little smug as she strode over to her desk; most of the girls were only holding a single rose or a card. Even Kairi had something to feel boastful about with her chocolates.

"That felt good." Naminé admitted with a shy smile as she sat in front of her computer. Sora and Kairi laughed as they took their seats and they both gestured towards the computer, reminding the blonde of what she needed to do. "Oh, right - hyacinth." She hastily typed it in and clicked on the link. When she finished reading the article her eyebrow was raised. _"I'm sorry_?"

Kairi's eyes widened. "Okay, there's no way you can doubt it's Roxas now - it has him written all over this!"

Sora frowned and scratched his head. "I have to agree with Kairi on this one, Naminé. It makes sense."

"No," The artist spat stubbornly, "It's not possible. He hasn't been at school, therefore he couldn't have put those flowers in my locker, and I doubt he's at school today because I didn't see his car in the parking lot-"

"He hasn't been home, actually," The brunet cut in quietly, his bright blue eyes cast to the floor, "Not since last week. This has been the longest time he's been away."

_"What?" _Both girls hissed incredulously; Kairi shook her head and leaned over her cousin to look at her boyfriend properly. "Why haven't you said that earlier?!"

"Because I only found out last night," Sora explained downheartedly, "I thought he had locked himself in his room all this time, but just yesterday I realized that I've never actually seen him _leave _his room. I opened the door and he was nowhere to be found." He sighed shakily and rubbed his chocolate brown spikes. "There was a rope tied to his bedpost and it led to his window, which was wide open." He groaned and buried his face in his hands. "I'm so stupid - I should've checked on him earlier…"

"D-don't blame yourself, Sora," Naminé placed her trembling hand on his shoulder, "You didn't do anything wrong. I...I'm pretty sure that wherever your brother is, he's okay."

"Yeah," Kairi agreed, "If he wasn't okay he wouldn't be sneaking into Nami's locker to give her flowers for Valentines Day." This earned a glare from her blonde cousin, but it also made her boyfriend chuckle a bit.

Roxas was not present in Geography, like she expected. Sora's new discovery only made her mood worse; it completely smashed the walls she had spent the past month building up around her heart, and by the time she sat down beside Olette for her second class she had finally accepted the fact that there was no use in fighting back her feelings anymore.

"Well, at least you're not in total denial anymore," The brunette gave her a rueful smile, "But what Sora told you is kind of worrisome."

"I know," The artist groaned as she gingerly placed her bouquet on her desk, "What the heck does he do when he's with that gang anyway? He seems more into The XIII than Axel and Demyx!"

"Maybe they know what's up with him."

"I already tried asking about it - they won't say anything," She sighed as her hand trailed towards one of the roses, "It would be the reasonable thing to let him go, but I can't - he's in too deep to be pulled out at this point."

"I don't think he can let you go either," Olette shrugged, "The flowers are a clear sign of that."

The brunette's words continued to bother her even after class. The day's events only took a stranger turn when Naminé walked into the cafeteria, only to discover that Axel and Demyx were not at their usual table. Weird - she swore she saw that old truck in the parking lot this morning...

"Great," She muttered to herself as she stormed out of the building, "This has got to be the best Valentines Day ever."

A low rumbling rolled across the sky and the blonde glanced upwards; perfect, on top of the freezing weather a storm just had to break in. She swore under her breath as she stomped towards the SS Wing with the intention of eating lunch by her locker. The rain began to pick up by the time she reached the building, and when she was inside she could hear millions of rain droplets pelting the stone walls like a hail of gunfire. Thunder boomed again and she jumped, flushing when she noticed a few heads turned in her direction.

When she finally approached her locker she found somebody waiting for her. Months of vexation, pain, fear, worry and irritation were licking at her insides as she stepped closer towards the person, and she stopped just a few feet in front of him. Her fists were twitching slightly as she tried her best to hold in her ill temper.

Leaning against her locker door was none other than Roxas Katsura; he was pale, almost sickly-looking, and the blue in his eyes seemed to have lost its luster. He lifted his head at the slightest and spoke in a low, tired voice. "Naminé," He started, but she was too angry to listen to whatever he had to say.

"Oh, look who it is!" She laughed sarcastically and threw her hands in the air, "So how long are you back for this time, Roxas? A week or two?"

"Naminé," He repeated with a little more desperation in his tone, "Please, let me explain-"

"What else is there to explain?" She laughed again and shook her head. "You've got a lot of nerve, you know," She shook the bouquet in her hand to emphasize her point, "Coming and leaving all the time, placing little hints like these to throw me off even more than you already have-"

"If you calm down for at least five minutes I'll tell you everything," Roxas stepped forward slowly, cautiously, "From the beginning up until this very moment."

_"Calm down?"_ She was beginning to grow a little hysterical from all the pent-up feelings jumping around inside of her, "After months of playing around with my feelings you want me to _calm down?" _The corners of her eyes began to sting and her voice was wavering, "I've waited for you, Roxas - I've waited for _so_ long, and every time you come back to me I always think you're going to stay for good, but then when everything's beginning to look perfect you leave and the cycle starts over again. I wait and I wait and I wait, and you _never_ come when I need you the most - especially after the New Years incident, when I _knew_ you knew that you were the only person I wanted around, yet you still managed to avoid me like the plague."

Nervousness ghosted across his exhausted features. "I didn't mean-"

She held her hands up to stop him. "You know what, I shouldn't even be listening to this. You're just gonna find a way to pull me in again, and then when you've got me wrapped around your finger you're gonna suddenly disappear, just like all the other times." She spun around on her heel and began to walk away. "Goodbye, Roxas."

"Naminé," She heard him beg, "Wait, please-" She rushed down the stairs, nearly tripping twice, and dashed out of the double doors.

She stormed out of the SS Wing, too angry and hurt to acknowledge the torrential downpour swirling above her head. Her tears obscured her vision as she ran blindly through the school property and she furiously swiped her arm through her eyes to clear them away. Her shoes slammed against the puddles of melted snow, causing the chilly water to splash upwards and drench her knee highs. She finally found solace - and somewhere to hide from the horrible weather - underneath the soccer bleachers. She grabbed onto one of the poles that supported the bleachers and pressed her forehead against the cold metal, clamping her eyes shut and letting the hot tears stream down her pallid cheeks. Her chest ached and her lungs begged for air as she sank slowly to her knees, and she was convulsing violently from the frigid storm. She glared at the bouquet in her hands and tossed it aside.

She felt stupid, so, so stupid.

"Naminé!" Through the gloom, rain and tears she found him running towards her; when he ducked underneath the bleachers she noticed that he was considerably drier than she was for some reason, though his hair was beginning to droop from the rain. "What are you doing running out here in the rain? It's freezing!"

"W-why do you c-c-care-e?" She hissed, her teeth chattering uncontrollably from the cold.

Hurt flickered in his dark blue stare and he knelt down to face her eye-to-eye. "Believe it or not, Naminé, there's a reason why I keep appearing and disappearing." When she did not answer him, he sighed and brushed his hand through his damp hair. "Did Axel ever tell you why there's a XIII in the first place?"

She did not know why, but she felt compelled to answer his ridiculous and completely irrelevant question. "H-he m-m-m-mentioned some-somet-thing about-t l-l-looking for some...s-something-g, o-or w-w-what-t-tever." She tried her best to sound mad but her teeth clicking together made it difficult.

His sullen expression did not change. "Yes, that's right - every single member in The XIII has that one common factor: we're all looking for something. Something to complete us, make us feel like we have a reason to be here." He hesitantly reached for her hands, and his eyes widened just a little when he realized how cold they were - in fact they were so cold she could hardly feel his touch.

She wanted to shake her hands away from his but she was too cold to move. Instead she let him pull her to her feet, but when she stood to full height her knees gave way and she toppled backwards against the metal pole. He reached for her but she shrunk away, leaning her weak body against the post. She felt the beginnings of a flu coming on but she refused to let it show. "S-so what's-s y-y-your point?"

"I…" He hesitated for a moment, his eyes traveling to the gravel beneath their feet, but he recomposed himself and returned his gaze to her, "I think you're the one I've been looking for, Naminé."

Her heart fluttered at his words, but her anger quickly overpowered it and her numb hands curled into fists. "I-if I w-w-was the-e one y-you've b-b-been l-l-looking f-for-r then-n why-y did y-you k-k-k-k-" She grabbed her jaw with her hands and attempted to stop the chattering, but after a few seconds she realized it was no use and she let go, "-k-keep l-leaving-g m-m-me?" A fresh round of tears streamed down her face, clashing with the cold temperature that coursed through her body.

His hands twitched, but he made no other movement. "I was afraid," He shook his head and chuckled sadly, "And confused. I didn't know how else to deal with it, so I kept running. I kept running away because I didn't know what to do."

It was her turn to laugh. "A-afraid of w-w-_what,_ R-Roxas? W-what i-i-in the world-d is th-there to be-e a-a-afraid of?"

"A lot of things!" His voice hardened, and it caught her by surprise, "I've known nothing else but _failed_ relationships - the one I had with Olette was a disaster on my part because I was too stupid and self-centred to realize that I've been hurting her this entire time. My parents have been separated ever since I was little; I don't have a solid memory of them actually _being_ together, ever." He glared at his shoes. "The only _positive_ relationship I've ever known is my brother and Kairi's - theirs is so perfect, so fitting...just like everything else in Sora's life. Everything that _he_ has, everything that he's ever accomplished - they're things I can only _dream_ of!" He frustratingly ran his hand through his hair. "Do you know how it feels to look into your mother's eyes and _know_ she thinks of you as nothing but a reminder of a relationship that was _supposed_ to last forever?"

His words pierced her, and she could not do anything beyond staring at him with wide, disbelieving eyes. She tried to find her voice, but she was conflicted with so much emotion - guilt, pity, sadness, hurt, confusion - that there simply was not enough space for her to speak.

Roxas' expression softened, but it did not lighten up; his shoulders sagged and she caught the glint of unshed tears brimming his reddened eyelids. "And then, out of the blue, you come along. You come and you help me to believe that maybe, just maybe, I have hope. Maybe I'm not doomed to live the rest of my life pretending I have a reason to be here. I found you, Naminé - I finally found you, and for a little while I've got myself convinced that maybe I'm capable of a relationship that'll last longer than a summer or two," He shook his head violently, trying to stop the tears from flowing, "Then Seifer comes and screws everything up, and suddenly I'm overcome with fear, fear that I was going to lose you. I was so afraid that was going to happen - I thought that maybe if I distanced myself from you it would lower the risk, and maybe you'll find someone that's more suited for you, but as time passed I realized that it hurt me a lot more to be apart from you than being afraid of losing you," He sighed shakily, "And the thought of you being with someone else repulsed me...but whenever I returned to you my fear of losing you would also come back, and then I'd run away again like the coward that I am." He groaned and pressed a hand to his face. "I'm sorry, Naminé, I'm so sorry. I didn't want things to end up like this, I never intended it to be." He looked up at her and she gasped slightly when she saw the tears escaping his blue, blue eyes. "If you want me to leave, then I'll leave. I promise you'll never see me again, and I promise I'll never interfere with your life. I'll do whatever it takes to make sure I won't hurt you again, even if it means me moving away and going to a new school. I don't care what I need to do - what matters to me most is your happiness and your security."

She leaned backwards against the pole, too stunned to find words to say. She wanted so badly to tell him that the only way she could feel happy and secure is if he stayed for good, but her vocal chords were refusing to function.

He misinterpreted her silence and began to back away. "I understand and respect your decision," He murmured in a voice so low it was almost impossible to hear against the heavy rain, "And I'll keep my word - this'll be the last time you'll ever see me." His fingers combed through his hair as he stepped out into the downpour. "Goodbye, Naminé." He spun on his heel and began to walk deeper into the frigid shower.

It was like Monday afternoon all over again, but this time she was not going to let him get away.

She watched him wordlessly for a moment or two; little clouds of air were puffing out of her mouth from the cold, her cheeks were streaked with tears and her legs were shaking uncontrollably. Her chest ached as she lifted herself off the pole, and her knees groaned as she forced them to work. She stumbled out from underneath the bleachers and into the pouring rain, chasing him down the path. She opened her mouth and pushed her vocals to work. "R-Roxas," She croaked weakly at first, but the more times she spoke the louder her voice became; she wanted him to know that she needed him and that she did not want him to go, "Roxas, R-Roxas...ROXAS!"

The moment he turned around to face her she crashed into him, winding her arms around his neck and crushing her lips against his. He stumbled backwards in surprise, but he readjusted himself in seconds and held her waist close to his body, supporting her weight. Her fingers pulled at the sopping tufts of hair at the back of his head as she felt his warmth seeping into her. He pulled away, gasping for air, but his hold on her was tight, secure and loving. She smiled up at him as their foreheads bumped together and her hands moved from his hair, which was now flat and slick, to the sides of his face.

"T-this i-i-is so-o c-cliché," Her voice was just a little more than a whisper, "K-k-kissing i-in the rain...and o-on V-Valent-t-tines Day-y, o-out of a-a-all days."

Roxas chuckled and returned her smile with his signature smirk, the same smirk she had grown to love so much. He pushed a few wet strands of hair away from her face. "There's a reason why things like these are cliché," He paused to kiss her again, and though this was much shorter than the last one the affection radiating off of him was all the same, "It's because moments like these are worth repeating over and over again." He kissed her a third time, and she happily kissed him back. Minutes later he pulled away to shrug out of his blazer; he draped it over her shoulders and pulled her close to his chest once more. "We better get you inside - Kairi's going to have my head if you come down with something."

Naminé turned her head away from his chest to sneeze not just once, but three times in a row. When she was sure she was done she sniffled and grinned sheepishly at his shocked expression. "Er, I-I think i-i-it's a l-little too-o l-l-late for that-t."

--

_A/N: The only musical inspiration used in this chapter was Iron and Wine's _Flightless Bird, American Mouth. _This beautifully heart-wrenching song was on repeat when I wrote Roxas' confession, and I pictured the chorus playing when Naminé finally caught up and kissed him =)_


	25. Chicken Soup For The Artist's Soul

_A/N: Thank you for all the reviews - I can't express how thankful I am to all of you who have stuck with this story!  
And to Naivette: yes, the quote is something I made up on my own...or at least I think I did. I thought of it while writing the story, but I don't know if it's a quote that's already been coined by someone else. You can use it if you like._

_--_

**Chicken Soup For The Artist's Soul.**

"H-how are you so sure dis id-" Naminé sneezed violently into the crook of her arm, "-g-going do work?"

The arm that was wrapped around her waist squeezed her affectionately, and she looked upwards to see Roxas smirking down at her with that smugness she was all too familiar with. "Trust me - I know what I'm doing." He opened the door to the admissions office and addressed the secretary sitting at the front desk. "Excuse me, but I think my friend and I need to be signed out for the day."

The middle-aged woman glanced upwards from her paperwork and adjusted her glasses; when she eyed the two soaked teens with their arms around each other grinning at her innocently from behind her desk she shook her head and reached for her keyboard. "Only on Valentines…" She muttered under her breath as she printed out their slips. She handed them over with a raised eyebrow.

"D-danks," Naminé's air passageways were almost completely blocked up; she waved cheerily at the secretary before Roxas gently pushed her out of the small office. "How come I-I'm da one sneezing ad sh-shivering, ad you're a-all dice ad healthy?"

He shrugged and rumpled the back of his damp hair, making it stick upwards. "I've been through worse." He guided her out of the student centre and led her to her locker in the SS Wing so she could get her things. When they reached the parking lot he worried over her driving back home, but she stubbornly refused to let him abandon his car just so he could take her.

"W-why don't y-you just head h-home first and c-change oud of your cl-clodes, and den-n you can come o-over?" She suggested as her eyes glanced upwards; the rain had died down a bit, but it was still freezing cold.

He sighed in defeat as he opened her door for her. "Fine - I'll see you in a bit, then." He leaned in to kiss her tenderly, and the horrible weather surrounding them was temporarily forgotten. When he pulled apart from her he had to snap his fingers in her face to bring her back to reality. "Naminé," He scorned, though at the same time he was chuckling.

She blinked a few times. "Er, s-sorry." She stepped into the driver's seat and waved at him before closing her door. She sneezed again as she started the engine, cursing her feeble immune system. When she reached the Hinomoto manor she stumbled up the stairs, tripping over her feet four times and even banging her shins painfully against the steps. She blinked the tears out of her eyes as she hopped and hobbled like the fool that she was down the hallway, and when she finally reached her bedroom she nearly collapsed on the floor from exhaustion.

She figured that a hot shower would do her good, so she limped over to the bathroom. The warm water poring over her numb skin helped the blood to flow, and by the time she stepped out of the shower she thought her sickness had disappeared, but then she sneezed again and she groaned. She wrung her hair with a towel as much as she could as she tottered into her closet to find some dry clothes.

She changed into her usual spaghetti strap top and short shorts and climbed into bed, sighing in relief as the warmth and comfort of her mattress enveloped her. Her temperature was fluctuating - her body was wrought with convulsions but she felt like she was caught in the middle of a burning room. Her head felt like it was stuffed with cotton balls and though the shower helped to clear some of the congestion in her chest she still found it difficult to breathe. The dull throbbing in her shins was not helping much either; she was expecting a couple of bruises later today.

However, even with all of the aches and pains she still felt like she was the happiest person on the planet - no, the universe.

She sighed into her pillow and closed her eyes, thinking back to the events that just occurred not even an hour ago. Finally, everything was as it should be - no more running after each other, no more pointless fights, no more confusion, no more hurt, no more-

Her phone began to vibrate and she immediately bolted out of bed, ignoring the painful protests in her joints as she scrambled towards the end to grab her bag. She plucked her phone out of the small outside pocket and held it up to her ear.

"Hello…?" She mumbled thickly, sniffling and rubbing the underside of her nose.

"You sound lovely." Roxas' answering croon nearly sent her into cardiac arrest. "You're getting worse - should I still head over?"

"O-of course you should!" She answered immediately before turning her head away to sneeze, "Actually, you _have _do - I'm dot gibbing you a choice." She grinned into her phone when she heard him sigh.

"Alright, alright. Give me a few minutes, okay?" There was a strange clanking noise in the background, like he was hitting something made out of metal. "Oh, and maybe you should give your cousin a call - I don't think she'd be very happy if she finds out you left without telling her anything. She can get a ride from Sora."

He was implying something, she could tell by the way his voice sounded. "Are you sure dat's _all_ you wad me do dell her?"

Roxas only laughed before hanging up on her. She glared down at her phone as she scanned her contact list for her cousin's name.

Kairi picked up on the second ring; judging by the sound of conversation buzzing around on the other end she was still in the cafeteria. "Nami? Don't you have Art or something?"

The blonde blushed and tugged on her hair. "Er, yeah...bud I god sick, so I wed hobe early."

"Sick? How the heck did you get sick?"

"Um, de wedder?" Naminé turned towards her wide window and noticed that it was still raining outside. "De freezing rain and da snow...id's nod doing wonders do my ibbune system."

"I can plainly hear that," Kairi giggled, "Well, Sora was planning to head over after school anyways so I'll hitch a ride with him. Feel better - we'll see you soon!"

She sighed before snapping her phone shut, and then she crawled back towards her pillows and placed the small white device on her bedside table, next to the crystal vase. She sneezed again and groaned as she fell face-first into her pillow; she hated getting sick. The worst part was that since her immune system was so frail recovery time was going to take forever, which meant that she was going to be out of school for at least a week, which _also_ meant that she was not going to spend enough time with Roxas.

A soft knocking on her door scared her out of her thoughts. She stared at it questionably, a soft pink smeared across her cheeks. "Erm, c-cubbin." When Roxas' tousled head poked in through the doorway she giggled. "How did you doe where my room was?"

He walked in hesitantly with a somewhat nervous expression on his face; he was wearing ratty blue jeans with holes and frayed edges and a plain white t-shirt. There was a new bouquet of roses in one hand and a silver thermos and a spoon in the other. He approached her bedside and removed the newspaper from the bouquet to drop the flowers into the vase, and then he set the thermos on the table. She scooted over to make room for him, and he sat on the edge of her bed. He rubbed the back of his head and threw her a shy smile. "Geoffery told me, though I don't think he approves of me coming up here." He chuckled and shook his head. "He's going to have to get used to it, I suppose."

His implication only worsened her blush, and she stared down at her lap. She heard him laugh again as he leaned closer towards her, cradling her face in his hands and tilting her head upwards so she could look into his eyes. "You don't know how much I've missed this." His thumb brushed the skin under her eye, where the worst of her blush was, and he chuckled when he felt her temperature rise even higher. "Actually, I don't know whether it's from your fever or from your embarrassment."

"To be honest wid you, I hab no idea eider." She mumbled, and he laughed again. He leaned in even closer, but he stopped when she pressed her palm against his mouth. She frowned at his confused expression. "I don't wad you do ged sick too."

He pried her hand away and rolled his eyes before moving in to kiss her fully on the mouth. She resisted at first, pushing her hands against his chest in a feeble attempt to break away from him, but after a few seconds she gave in and her hands slid upwards towards his hair. He leaned into her, forcing her to lie down onto the mattress, and she groaned as his tongue slowly pushed into her mouth. After a few minutes of tongue-wrestling he broke away from her, but he did not completely pull away; he trailed kisses from the corner of her mouth to her jawline and down her neck, stopping at her collarbone. She moaned and clamped her eyes shut at the sensation of his lips gently sucking on the sensitive skin of her neck, and she turned slightly to kiss his spiky hair. Her fever coupled with the heat exchanged between their bodies made her delirious; there were stars flickering in and out of her eyes and her head felt like it was no longer attached to her body.

"Naminé," Roxas finally pulled away from her, breathing as hard as she was; he peered down at her with worry etched on his perfect face, "You're getting very warm." He pressed the back of his hand against her forehead. "It's only been an hour and you already have a high fever." His tone was disbelieving, almost awestruck, like she had accomplished something incredible.

She blinked furiously, trying to make the stars disappear. "I-I doe." She answered weakly; she tried to reach for him but her limbs felt like they were made out of lead.

He gently took her hand in his and kissed her knuckles. "I'm going to get you a wet cloth and some medicine, okay? In the meantime," He helped her up into a sitting position, stuffing a couple pillows behind her to support her back. He reached for the thermos and unscrewed the cap, revealing steaming hot chicken noodle soup, "You're going to be eating this." He handed her the spoon before heading to the bathroom.

She scooped a spoonful of soup into her mouth and blinked incredulously when she realized how amazing it tasted. She downed the soup in minutes, licking her lips as she leaned to the side to place the thermos and spoon back on the bedside table.

Roxas emerged from the bathroom soon afterward carrying a wet washcloth, a glass of water, a bottle of cold medicine and a small pill. He handed her the glass and the pill. "That's for your fever." He informed her as she popped the tiny pill into her mouth and gulped the water down. He then poured some of the cold medicine into the spoon and motioned for her to open her mouth.

She made a face. "Ugh, I hade dis stuff-"

"I don't care if you do," He cut her off sternly, "You're taking it and that's final."

Naminé rolled her eyes. "Fine, Mom." She parted her lips and he gently eased the spoon in her mouth, dumping its contents onto her tongue. She forced the repulsive, thick liquid down; her eyes watered and she coughed into her fist. "Ugh - disgustding." She grimaced.

He smirked triumphantly as he removed the pillows from behind her. "But it'll make you feel better sooner. It's supposed to act fast too, so you'll be speaking proper words in no time." He helped her lie down onto the mattress before placing the cold washcloth on her forehead. Its chilly temperature helped take away the stuffiness in her head, and she sighed in comfort. Roxas smiled down at her and brushed the hair out of her eyes. "See - you're feeling better already, aren't you?"

"Id's da washclod, dot da medicine." She sniffled and scooted towards the centre of the mattress, patting the empty space she previously occupied. He kicked off his shoes and climbed in beside her, throwing an arm around her shoulders and pulling her close against his side. She rolled over so that her head fit into the crook of his neck, and she raised one arm to weave her fingers through his hair; the other was pressed in between her chest and his. His other arm moved around her waist and he nuzzled his head against hers, breathing in deep. His body temperature helped even hers out a little and her convulsions began to die down. His breath felt cool against her burning skin and she sighed. "You're still habbing sleeping problems, aren't you?"

He chuckled ruefully. "Kind of a random thing to say, but is it that obvious?"

"Dode think you can ged away widdit," She grumbled, her voice slightly muffled against his neck, "Why habben't you been sleeping?"

He sighed. "There's different answers to that question - it depends on what you're talking about."

"Led's stard wid New Years."

He leaned back a bit to stare at her. "How did you know-"

Her face went red for a split second, but then she thought up of a good enough excuse that was partially true. "Axel ad your brudder told be."

Roxas 'ah-ed' before touching her forehead with his cheek. "Well, it's not hard to see why I wasn't sleeping properly then. Seifer…" His voice began to falter, and he trailed off. After a few seconds he shook his head, his spikes tickling her skin, and continued. "I couldn't stop thinking about what could've happened if I never came to you in time, or if nobody came for you at all. It was a horrible few weeks for me."

She massaged the back of his head comfortingly, reveling in the sensation of his hair sticking out in between her fingers. "Whad made you decide do come back in da last few weeks of school?"

"I wanted to be there for you in case something like that happened again," He explained, "But keep in mind that I never expected that, er, thing in the library to happen. It worked for a bit, didn't it?"

She shrugged. "I guess, ib you count our stupid fights as a second chance." She breathed in deep and gasped. "Hey, my dose isn't so stuffy anymore!" She could smell a bit of his cologne and the shampoo in his hair, and she sighed dazedly.

He laughed and kissed her temple. "See, I told you." When she huffed stubbornly he laughed again.

"Ha-ha." She paused for a minute, and then glanced up at him with curious eyes. "Why did you say that Riku was better for me?"

"Didn't I explain my reasons?" He raised an eyebrow at her.

"Yeah, but most of the reasons you gave me could've been yours too. You're responsible, and when you're actually around you're always there for me." She sniffled as her fingers fumbled with his shirt collar. "I don't see how you can't compare to him."

"It's not very hard, Naminé," Roxas replied as a matter-of-factly, "He's a complete opposite of who I am - he has a good sense of judgement-"

"You do too, you know."

"-he doesn't associate himself with criminals-"

"I'm very fond of Axel and Demyx - in fact I consider Axel one of my closest friends!"

"-he's not a criminal himself-"

"As long as you're not a deranged serial killer slash rapist slash underground terrorist I think I can live with it."

"-Naminé, you don't get it," He groaned, "I can be risking your life, exposing you to people who aren't afraid to hurt you, or worse! That fight on the boardwalk is plain proof of that, and New Years...I don't even have to get into detail."

"Nothing you say will convince me that Riku's better than you, so you better quit while you're ahead." She glared fiercely at him, "I only like Riku as a friend, and to be honest with you I never really saw you as one...I...I always thought of you as something more," Her cheeks reddened and she pressed her face against his neck, "So no matter what, even if things were different, I'd still end up choosing you in the end."

She felt his chest depress as he sighed. "Your taste in the opposite sex is astounding."

She leaned back to stick her tongue out at him. "You're stuck with me, whether you like it or not." She giggled as he leaned in to kiss her, and she kissed him back with enthusiasm. His tongue ran over her bottom lip, causing her to moan and arch her back, pressing her body against his. The world faded away as she closed her eyes, delving in his embrace. Her heart pumped spasmodically and her face was so flushed it was almost violet.

Roxas chuckled against her lips and he pulled away from her; her face was doused in colour and she was staring back at him in a daze, her eyes half-open and her mouth slightly parted. "Breathe, Naminé," He murmured; when she did not answer he sighed, "Do I have to do everything for you?" And he moved to kiss her neck.

She finally gasped for air and shook out of her trance. Her cheeks were tinged pink in embarrassment and she buried her face into the crook of his neck. The cold medicine was beginning to kick in now; she yawned and her hold on him slackened just a little. "I hate you." She mumbled sleepily as her eyes began to flutter to a close.

He laughed and rubbed her back soothingly. He removed the washcloth from her forehead and tossed it onto the bedside table. "I love you too," He whispered into her ear; he kissed the sensitive spot behind it before nuzzling his head against hers once more.

His words caused her eyes to snap back open, but since her face was fortunately pressed against his neck he could not see her flabbergasted expression. She shook off her shock and nestled in his arms, snuggling closer to him and closing her eyes again. She could tell he was getting sleepy too; his hands were moving more slowly against her back and his breathing was evening out. She yawned against him before slipping into unconsciousness.

When she woke up a couple of hours later she realized two things:

One: Her fever had died down considerably.

Two: Roxas was gone.

She sat up and rubbed her eyes, ridding herself of the little fatigue that was left in her. Her arms and legs still felt a little heavy and sore but it was tolerable, and like she expected her shins were shiny with ugly bruises. She glanced down at the floor and noticed that his shoes were still there, which confused her.

Suddenly the door to her bathroom swung open and Roxas appeared with a thermometer in his hands. "Oh, you're awake already?" He sat on the edge of the bed and placed his hand on her forehead. "Hm, you've cooled down somewhat but you're still pretty warm." He held the thermometer in between his thumb and forefinger. "Open up."

She did was she was told, and he stuck the thermometer under her tongue. After a few seconds he pulled it out and squinted at it. "Yep, just as I thought - you've got a high fever, Naminé."

She cursed under her breath and glared down at her lap. "Dammit."

He laughed as he set the thermometer on her bedside table; he threw one arm around her shoulders and kissed the side of her head. "Don't worry, as long as I'm around you'll be better in no time."

She glanced upwards to stare contemptuously at him. "Y'know, for a second there I thought you left again."

His expression softened as he pulled his other arm around her waist; he gave her a loving squeeze and leaned in closer. "I'm never going to leave you again," He whispered against her hair, "I promise." He pecked her lips and pressed his forehead against hers. "I was stupid for doing it the first time around."

"Don't forget the second and third times." She reminded him with a smirk, and he cringed.

"I know, I know," He groaned, "Ugh, just thinking about all that time I wasted...I have to make it up to you somehow. All that lost time...all those months we could've been together-"

She kissed his lips to silence his laments. "Hush," Her fingers pulled gently through his hair as she pressed her cheek against his collarbone, "You don't have to make up for anything, Roxas. You had your reasons, and despite everything that's happened you can't put all of the blame on yourself. Sometimes things just happen, and there's nothing you can do about it." She lifted her head off his shoulder to smile up at him. "Besides, we're together now, aren't we? Isn't that what matters?"

He cracked a small smile and nodded against her hair. "Yeah, as long as we're together I'm happy." He chuckled softly. "I don't deserve you, Naminé."

She rolled her eyes. "Here it comes…"

He gaped at her. "No, serious - how can you forgive me after all that's happened, after everything I've done to you, after everything I've put you through?"

She grasped his head in her hands and forced him to stare straight into her eyes. "Can you stop putting yourself down? You're so depressing!" She shook her head at the bashful expression on his face. "Why can't you just accept the fact that I'm here to stay?"

"Because it's far too good to be true," He muttered and shifted his eyes to the side, trying to avoid her gaze, "I didn't think I'd ever come across someone like you, someone who can actually make me feel like I belong somewhere. I was so afraid, so afraid that my wayward lifestyle would turn you away from me, or I'd do something stupid and end up losing you," He sighed and leaned in to rest his head on her shoulder, "I was so lost...the only thing that seemed reasonable to me at the moment was to just run away when it got overbearing."

"Well, what about that time in the library, where we...er..." Naminé flushed and trailed off, but he understood what she was trying to say.

He hesitated for a moment, as if he was trying to pick out words to say. "I couldn't stop thinking about all the failed relationships I've come across in the past. I didn't want to see you hurt like my mother and Olette."

She spoke as patiently and soothingly as she could, like she was trying to pacify a troubled child. "But about your parents...there was nothing you could do about that, Roxas. You were so little when it happened, it couldn't have been your fault."

He sighed against her, and his breath tickled her skin. "I know, but…" He shook his head, "It's hard to explain."

She did not want to pry for information he did not feel comfortable sharing, so instead she smiled and continued to comb her fingers through his disheveled locks. "Well, sorry to break it to you but your _wayward lifestyle_ isn't a turnoff, and though you did do a few stupid things I'm still here."

She felt him sigh again, but he did not say anything else. Seconds later she felt his fingers brush against the shiny chain around her neck; his attention was drawn to the key-shaped pendants. "I never thought you'd actually wear these," He chuckled, "I thought you'd be too angry at me."

"I was, to be honest with you," She frowned, "But at the same time I felt like I had to wear them...I'm not sure why. Er, they _are_ keys though, right? Just making sure I got that…"

Roxas chuckled and nodded against her. "Yes, you're right." His fingers skimmed the pendants and her skin tingled under his touch.

She raised an eyebrow. "They don't look like ordinary keys."

He laughed again and squeezed her waist. "Of course they're not - why would anybody in their right mind let anyone else into their heart with _ordinary_ keys? It'll be too easy that way, Naminé."

Her body temperature had suddenly skyrocketed at least ten degrees warmer than it was before. "Er, so wait...are you trying to say that these are-" She stopped herself, too speechless and embarrassed to continue.

"Yes," His voice was low and it tickled her skin, "That's exactly what I'm trying to say." He swooped in again to capture her lips with his own, and she happily complied as she lowered both of their bodies onto the mattress. Her fingers snaked through his hair and she smirked against his lips when he let out a pleasured grunt, and she teased him further when she arched against him.

The sound of a door opening from the floor below caused Naminé's eyes to fly open; she pushed Roxas off of her and sat up, her head immediately turning towards her door. He rumpled the back of his hair and stared at her questionably. "What is it?"

"Kairi and Sora are here," She bit her bottom lip, "And I forgot to tell them that, er, you were _taking care of me."_

When he heard his brother's name he groaned and threw himself against the backboard of her bed. "Great, Sora's going to kill me - I haven't seen him in days."

"Erm, I don't think your brother's the one you should be worrying about." She mumbled, tugging anxiously on her hair.

The blond was about to inquire as to why he should not be afraid of Sora when the door swung open. Naminé's cousin and Roxas' brother walked in, their arms laden with various items.

"Hey Nami," Kairi grinned cheerily; her eyes were trained on the small pile cradled in her arms, "We got you some stuff that'll help you feel better."

"Yeah," Her boyfriend added; his eyes were also concentrated on the things gathered in his arms, "We got some cup noodles, cough medicine, one of those hot water bottle thingies-"

"She already has cough medicine," Roxas interrupted with a smirk, "And I don't think she'll need that many cups of instant noodles."

The moment they heard his voice Kairi and Sora glanced upwards to gape at the blond sitting beside the other blonde with his arm around her waist. The redhead and the brunet were so shocked they dropped their things; the cup noodles rolled out of their arms and thudded against the soft white carpet.

"YOU!" Kairi pointed vehemently; Roxas raised an eyebrow and Naminé shrunk into his embrace in fear, "You've got a _hell_ of a lot of nerve to be showing your face around here, buddy, and in my cousin's _room, _in her _bed_ out of all places!" She approached the bed slowly, intimidatingly, her eyes narrowing with every step. "Give me _one_ good reason why I shouldn't strangle you right here, right now…"

"Oh, so you _were_ the one who was giving her those flowers all along," Sora's attention was veering towards the crystal vase, now full with flowers, "I should've known." He shook his head and chuckled.

"Kairi," Naminé tried to reason with her cousin but she was too scared to even look her in the eyes; her face was half-buried in Roxas' shirt, "There's a lot to explain-"

"You're damn right there's a lot to explain," The redhead hissed, "What the hell is going on here? I thought you were hiding somewhere with your gang friends because you were too pathetic to 'fess up to my cousin-" Roxas rolled his eyes, "-and I thought _you-"_ Kairi jabbed a finger in her blonde cousin's direction, "-were sick!"

"I _am_ sick," The artist nodded towards the thermos, cold medicine and washcloth sitting on her bedside table, "But I took medicine earlier so I'm not as bad as before."

"She looks kinda sick," Sora pointed out, "She's all red and sweaty-looking."

The blonde's eyes widened and Roxas chuckled and shook his head. Bless Sora and his obliviousness.

"I understand why you're angry," Roxas spoke in a patient, even tone, "And I really can't blame you. Just let me explain everything, and if nothing makes sense to you in the end you can strangle me until I'm blue in the face. Deal?"

Kairi huffed, but she sat on the foot of the bed and gestured for him to begin his explanation; Sora nervously sat beside her and distractedly fiddled with his hands. The both of them listened to Roxas' retelling of the events that happened during their lunch period; the deeper the blond dove into his story the softer Kairi's expression became, and the redder Naminé's cheeks grew. When Roxas was finished Kairi's eyes were rimmed with tears and her bottom lip was trembling.

Touched, the redhead sighed dreamily and clapped her hands together in glee. "How romantic," She rhapsodized, her eyes drifting towards the bed overhang, "Such a perfect Valentines story…"

"So does that mean everything's okay between you two now?" The brunet eyed his brother carefully, "No more fighting, no more disappearing, no more climbing out of your window without letting your relatives know where you're going?"

Roxas chuckled sheepishly and nodded. "I'm through with all of that now." He tightened his hold around Naminé and she smiled into his shoulder. "I finally realized that it's worth it to stick around."

"See," Kairi teasingly leaned forward to stare into her cousin's flushed face, "I told you - you were meant to be together!" She whirled around to glare at her boyfriend, who was staring back with confused eyes. "Why can't you be romantic like your brother?"

"W-what are you talking about?" Sora was frantically flailing his arms, "I made you that box of chocolates, didn't I? And that poem-"

"He worked very hard on those," His twin brother grinned, "He stayed up two nights in a row making that box for you, and it took him hours to write that poem."

The redhead raised an eyebrow. "Oh, really?"

"Aw," Naminé giggled into the soft fabric of Roxas' t-shirt, "That's really cute."

"Granted, it's only six or so lines but I assure you they're the most profound lines Sora has ever come up with," The blond laughed as his brother flushed a light pink, "Read them and you're guaranteed to fall in love with him within the hour."

Naminé laughed again, and her cousin shook her head amusedly at Roxas' words. Sora rolled his eyes and rubbed the back of his head. "Shut up, man."

The foursome passed the rest of the afternoon in Naminé's room with light conversation, instant noodles and endless bouts of making fun of the poor brunet. Kairi even read Sora's poem aloud, much to his chagrin.

_"I think about you every day," _Kairi suppressed a snort as she read the few lines scrawled on the pink sheet of paper; Sora groaned and buried his face in his hands as his brother and Naminé teasingly 'aw-ed' and cooed, _"I never thought I'd feel this way. I can't help but stutter when I see you smile; I'd stay up to watch you sleep 'cause it's all worthwhile." _She paused for a minute and smiled at the last two lines. _"When you say you love me it's a little hard to believe; 'Cause how can someone like you fall for somebody like me?"_

Naminé's chest was swelling with a warm, pleasant feeling - it was almost like she was sitting in front of the fireplace after a day out in the snow. "That's the greatest poem I've ever heard."

Sora peered at her from the spaces between his fingers. "You're being sarcastic."

"No," The blonde lifted herself off of Roxas' shoulder to shake her head, "I really mean it, Sora. That was very sweet and heartfelt."

Unable to help himself Roxas smirked and brushed his fingers through his hair. "Not to mention the fact that it sounds like something a kid from second grade would write."

"Shut up," Naminé jabbed him sharply in the ribs with her elbow and smiled apologetically at the brunet, "Don't listen to your brother - I thought it was nice."

Kairi laughed and leaned in to peck her boyfriend on the lips. "She's right, you know - it was very sweet."

The brunet grinned sheepishly as he pulled her in for a hug. He turned towards his brother and made a face. "See, at least they agree with me." He eyed the clock radio on Naminé's nightstand and frowned. "Hm, it's getting pretty late - I think it's time for us to go."

Roxas nodded and released his hold on Naminé to stand up. Sora kissed Kairi daintily on the cheek before doing the same. The redhead bounced onto her feet, taking the brunet's hand. "I'll walk you guys out."

Roxas leaned forward and nuzzled his head against Naminé's, kissing her temple. "I'll be back tomorrow." He placed a hand on her cheek and slowly turned her head so he could meet his lips with hers. She reached for his hair and pulled him closer, forcing him to sit back on the bed. She closed her eyes and smiled against his mouth, and she could feel him smiling back.

The sound of Kairi awkwardly clearing her throat scared them apart. "You have more than enough time to do that tomorrow." She chided with a grin.

"And the day after that," Sora chuckled, "And the days after that…"

The brunet's words caused a hoard of butterflies to flutter excitedly in the blonde's stomach, and she smiled at the thought of spending the rest of her days with the one person who finally made all her months of waiting worthwhile. Roxas shook his head at her childish expression and leaned in once more to kiss her forehead. "Happy Valentines, Naminé." He threw her one last smirk before pulling on his shoes and following his brother and Kairi out of the room.

_--_

_A/N: It was a mission and a half to think up of Sora's poem...I'm as bad as he is._

_I hope all the fluff I've stuffed into this chapter makes up for all those months Roxas has been away - Naminé seems to think it has!_

_Oh, and don't worry, folks - the story's not over yet! There's at least two or three...maybe even four more chapters to go, and plus there's the rewrite in Roxas' POV and a short-ish, Axel-centric midquel I've concocted in my head! Hang tight!_


	26. You Make Me Glow

_A/N: Fifth-last chapter (yeah, a plot bunny hopped into my head a few days ago). Just giving y'all a heads up._

_--_

**You Make Me Glow.**

It was mid-April; the air was warm, clean and fresh, and everything was green and colourful again. The sky was a bright blue and the sun was out. Birds chirped enthusiastically and danced with each other in mid-air, and squirrels, chipmunks, rabbits and even raccoons were scurrying along the emerald blades of grass.

Naminé stepped out into the Saturday afternoon sunshine, closing her eyes under the warmth of the sun's rays. She had her favourite leather sketchbook tucked underneath her arm and her fingers were hooked underneath the rubber bands of her flip-flops as she walked from the back of the Hinomoto manor towards the lush gardens of the back property. It stretched out just a little more than an acre, with bright green grass and flower beds in an array of different colours. Tall sakura trees popped randomly out of the ground; their soft pink blossoms were swaying gracefully with the soft spring wind.

She smiled slightly at the sensation of the grass crinkling underneath her bare feet as she walked in between the rainbow of flower beds, tilting her head to squint at the peculiar plants. The blonde continued walking until she reached a small, circular cleaning in the middle of what looked like an endless stretch of wildflowers. She was surrounded by colour; it was perfect.

She briefly glanced upwards at the sky, shielding her eyes with her hand as she folded her legs underneath her to sit on the soft grass. She dropped her flip-flops to the side, unlocked her sketchbook and flipped to a blank page, glancing around her to see which area had the best view. She pulled her pencil out from behind her ear and pressed the tip to the paper, but when she realized she did not have a good enough perspective of the wildflower field she leaned forward to lie on her stomach, placing her sketchbook in front of her and narrowing her eyes at the limitless rows of wildflowers just a few feet away. She concluded that she liked looking at it better this way, and finally began sketching.

Half an hour into her drawing she decided to take a break; she held her sketchbook out at arms' length and grinned at it, satisfied with its progress. She stretched her fingers and rolled on her back, closing her eyes against the warm spring breeze. She listened to the birds chirping somewhere in the distance and the swishing of the leaves and flower petals dancing to the rhythm of the wind. She reopened her eyes five minutes later and rolled back onto her stomach to resume her drawing.

She was almost finished sketching a particularly difficult flower when she heard the not-so-distant scrunching of someone's shoes against the grass. She did not like it very much when somebody interrupted her drawing time, so her brow was scrunched together in annoyance as she glanced over her shoulder. When she figured out who her intruder was, however, she was so happy she dropped her pencil and sprang to her feet with a smile so bright it rivaled the sun glowing above her head.

Roxas was standing a few feet away from her with a small smile of his own; the gentle breeze swept through his hair, which shone gold in the sunlight, and the blue in his eyes looked a few shades brighter than usual. He looked happier and healthier than he did in a long time, due to the fact that there was nothing worth losing sleep over anymore. He was wearing a black, white and red plaid shirt with the sleeves rolled up to his elbows, black jeans and black and white sneakers - dressed to kill, as always. He pulled his hands out of his pockets and held his arms out to her, and she laughed as she ran into them. She laughed some more as she felt him lift her off the ground, spinning around once and setting her back onto her feet before claiming her lips with his own. Her giggles died down a little as she settled into his embrace, winding her arms around his neck and pulling him closer.

"What a pleasant surprise." She breathed after they broke apart; her face was flushed a delicate pink and her eyes were flickering wildly.

He squeezed her waist affectionately and pressed his cheek against her shoulder. "I thought it would've been more romantic if I came without telling you beforehand." He murmured against her neck.

Her fingers wandered towards his dark blond hair and she smiled as he closed his eyes. "You are so cheesy sometimes." She giggled, and pulled away from him completely to return to her spot on the grass. She tugged on his wrist, asking him to join her; he complied, of course, and sat behind her. His arms enveloped her waist and pulled her in, easing her in between his legs. She pressed her back against his chest, pulled her sketchbook onto her lap and glanced up at him from beneath his chin. "What made you want to come here in the first place?" She asked curiously.

Her skin tingled as his fingers moved upwards to tuck her hair behind her ear. "Do I have to have a reason to visit you?" He whispered, and she shivered at the sensation of his warm breath gliding over her skin.

She blushed and shook her head. "No - I just thought you had one, that's all."

"Ah." He moved in to nuzzle his head against the side of hers, and she felt him take a long intake of breath. "I love you." He whispered into her ear.

She stiffened at his words, and she slowly turned her head towards him, her heart hammering against her ribcage. "I…" She flushed and looked down, unable to complete her sentence. He gave her a small, almost sad smile and leaned in to peck her lips; this was not the first time this happened.

"Don't hurt yourself, Naminé." He chuckled, his navy eyes flashing underneath the sunlight.

She stared up at him, the corner of her eyes stinging and her face even redder than before. "Roxas, don't think that I don't feel the same way," She said softly, her voice breaking from the tears she was attempting to hold in, "Because I do, I really do...it's just...it's just that I can't s-say it out loud yet." She bit her lip as the tears began to fall. "I'm sorry."

He smiled again and nodded in understanding, kissing the tears away. "It's okay, Naminé," He murmured, reaching upwards to wipe away the rest of her tears; he spread light kisses over her forehead, cheeks, jawline and neck to calm her, "I know how you feel, and just knowing is good enough. You have your own way of expressing your feelings - you don't always have to use words."

She sniffled and smiled for him. "Thank you," She rubbed her eyes with her knuckles, "For understanding."

He kissed her tenderly. "Don't think I'm rushing you into anything, okay?" His palms gently pressed down on her stomach, "And besides, I can't pass an opportunity to see you blush."

She huffed as he laughed, and then he leaned in to kiss her again. He rested his chin on her shoulder and watched her continue her drawing in silence; the tousled spikes of his hair grazed her cheek and she smiled as she stroked the paper with her pencil. Ten minutes later she was finished.

"I really don't know how you do it," She felt him chuckle against her neck as she quickly scribbled her name at the bottom, "You amaze me every time, I swear."

She made a face and poked his nose with the eraser end of her pencil. "That's enough cheese for one day, mister."

He grinned reticently. "I'm only telling the truth." His lips touched hers again, albeit briefly. "Where are Sora and Kairi?"

She shrugged. "I dunno - probably out enjoying the nice weather."

"Or each other."

"Ew," The artist wrinkled her nose in disgust, "Don't say that - you're creating very disturbing images!"

Roxas laughed and squeezed her waist; he nuzzled his head against hers again. "I'm not the one who's making those disturbing images - it's your imagination."

She huffed and crossed her arms stubbornly. "You were the one who provoked my imagination. Plus, I know you find it disturbing too - this is your brother we're talking about!"

He sighed and gingerly massaged her stomach with his hands. "Alright, alright, I get your point. Sorry."

The feeling of his hands rubbing her abdomen was relaxing, and a soft moan escaped her lips as she pressed the back of her head against his shoulder. Naminé closed her eyes and inhaled slowly, taking in the distinguishable scent of his cologne. Her hands moved on top of his and she placed them on her lap right over her sketchbook. A smile curved onto her mouth when she felt him lean in towards her, and she turned her head at just the right time; the kiss was sweet and innocent, and it would have escalated into something more if Roxas' phone did not have to ring at precisely that moment.

She huffed in frustration, and the blond gave her a rueful grin before untangling their hands to pull his phone out of his pocket. When he eyed the call display on the screen he exhaled sharply. "What is it, Axel?" Naminé could hear the redhead laughing obnoxiously before saying something unintelligible, and she tilted her head to the side when Roxas rolled his eyes. "Yes, kind of - can you tell?"

The artist watched him converse with their friend, blinking curiously. She felt his other hand distractedly rubbing her stomach again, and she leaned back against him and closed her eyes, patiently waiting for the conversation to end.

"Wait, let me ask her first-" Her skin tingled as his lips brushed her earlobe, and her eyes flew open, "-do you want to grab lunch with Axel? He says he's dying of boredom and there isn't anybody around to entertain him."

Naminé giggled and nodded; even though lunch was three hours ago she did not pass the opportunity to spend time with a friend. "Well, I suppose, but doesn't that mean that _we_ have to entertain him?"

The blond shrugged his shoulders. "I guess," He balanced his phone on his shoulder and pressed it against his ear, freeing his hands; he entwined their fingers again and wrapped both of their arms around her small torso, "Yeah, she says she's fine with it. Alright, we'll see you soon - no, you still owe me fifteen from the last three times I paid for you!" He sighed in defeat. "Fine, fine. See you in twenty." He briefly released one of her hands to cancel the call and push his phone back into his pocket; when he was done he reached for her again. "He's like a dog sometimes, I swear - always pining for attention."

"Always pining for _your _attention." She corrected him with a laugh. Roxas rolled his eyes as he pulled her to her feet; she grabbed her sketchbook and pencil along the way, and when she stood to full height she stepped into her flip-flops. She tugged the hem of her shorts, frowning slightly. "Do I look okay?" She asked self-consciously with her head tilted downwards, peering up at him through her eyelashes.

He chuckled and leaned in to bump noses with her. "You shouldn't be asking me that question; you already know what my answer is."

She rolled her eyes. "Some help you are." She jostled the sketchbook in her arms and jerked her head towards the mansion. "I'll just drop this off and I'll be right back."

He nodded and squeezed her hand. "I'll head home to get the car, then." He leaned in to peck her on the lips, and then he gently pulled her out of the garden and back onto the cobblestone patio. She noticed his eyes darting over to the infinity pool and she turned to see what he was looking at, but when she noticed nothing out of the ordinary she turned back only to see him smiling like he never did it in the first place. He grabbed the black and white skateboard leaning against the vine-infested wall, opened the French doors and led her inside, pulling her through the kitchen, down the hallway and into the main foyer. When they reached the marble staircase and the large double doors he stopped and turned around to face her with his hand still holding onto hers. "I shouldn't be too long - wait for me out front."

"Okay." She pecked his mouth daintily before spinning around and heading up the stairs. She smiled softly to herself and dabbed her lips with the tips of her fingers as she pushed the door to her room open; it had been just over two months since the Valentines incident and she was still not used to the wonderful tingly feeling that coursed through her whenever they kissed.

She stepped into her studio to gently place her sketchbook and pencil on her drafting table, and then scurried over to her walk-in closet. She eyed her simple appearance in the full-length mirror: she was only wearing a pale yellow t-shirt, matching yellow flip-flops and dark blue denim shorts that were a little longer than her usual pair, ending at just above her knees. Sure, it was only ramen, but she could not help but feel like she had to wear something a little more..._less casual._ It was like this every time she went out with Roxas now; she always felt like she had to dress to appeal to him. Of course, being the polite young man that he is he would always compliment on her appearance, but she knew better than that.

Realizing that she was just wasting time, she shook her head and dashed out of her room, giving up on trying to reason with herself. She nearly tripped on her way down the stairs and wrenched the double doors open; the gunmetal BMW was already there, purring idly against the curb. When she opened the door and stepped inside he was eyeing her skeptically. "You were debating in front of your mirror again, weren't you?"

Dammit - caught, _again. _She flushed and reached upwards to pull on her hair. "Er," She bit her bottom lip and turned to gaze out the window, "Maybe."

She heard him sigh, and her eyes widened when she felt his hand on her cheek; he gently turned her head back around so that she was facing him. "Naminé, how many times do I have to tell you - it doesn't matter what you're wearing; you'll always be perfect to me." He chuckled when her blush worsened. "Besides, we're only going for ramen - it's not like we're eating out at a fancy restaurant, which we will be doing next Friday, by the way."

"W-what?" Her embarrassment spread to her ears and she blinked incredulously.

He laughed and leaned in teasingly, resting his forehead against hers. "I'm taking you out this coming Friday and you can't say anything about it 'cause I already made reservations." He pecked her lips and pulled himself away to shift gears, leaving her flabbergasted and beet-red. He chuckled some more when her expression did not change. "Hey, at least I'm giving you a reason to dress up, right?"

She decided to turn the stereo on instead of answering him; she closed her eyes and pressed her cheek against the window, listening to the mellow rock music drift out of the speakers. Two songs later their song began to play, and her eyes opened when she recognized the guitars and the vocals. She turned to look at him, and she blushed when she found him smiling in her direction.

When they reached the small plaza with the ramen shop the first thing they noticed was Axel's recognizable, weather-beaten truck. Roxas circled his car and reached for Naminé's hand, giving it a firm squeeze before leading her to the door.

"What took you so long?" The pyromaniac asked the moment the couple walked inside, "I thought I was gonna starve to death!"

Roxas shook his head and frustratingly slid his free hand through his hair. "We weren't stalling or anything - you're probably just really hungry."

"Hi, Axel." The artist sat across the redhead and waved at him.

He grinned and waved back, but when he turned back towards his best friend his scowl returned. "Well, whatever - it's your fault."

"Why are you always so nice to her?" The blond threw his hands up exasperatingly and jerked his head towards Naminé, who was giggling behind her hand.

"Because unlike you, Naminé's sweet and unselfish," Axel smirked and crossed his hands behind his head, leaning backwards on his chair, "And I still can't forgive you for what you've done to her."

Roxas groaned into his palm. "I thought we were over this…"

"Hey, it's not my fault you decided to be an idiot - you're the one who ditched poor Naminé, leaving her confused and broken for God knows how long," The pyromaniac scoffed and shook his spiky head in disapproval, "And I tried reasoning with you, but what did you do instead? You ignore me and continue to mope for the next few months!"

Roxas turned towards the artist for help, but the blonde only shrugged her shoulders. He groaned again and ruffled his hair with both hands. "She's forgiven me, so why can't you?"

"Because you never listened to me," Axel replied simply, poking himself in the chest, "Your best friend, the one person who _tried_ to help you see the truth in all of this. Everybody else didn't seem to care - okay, maybe Xion but I was more of a help 'cause I associated with both sides - but I pressed on because, well," He hesitated and sheepishly rubbed the back of his head, "I don't like it when my best friends are sad and mopey like you guys were."

Naminé stifled a giggle. "See, I knew you had a soft side."

The redhead's eyes narrowed and he obstinately crossed his arms. "I do not."

Ken swung by with their ramen, and Axel's mood lifted the minute he dug into his bowl. They ate and chatted lightly amongst themselves, and the blondes made sure to carefully step around the topic of their trivial relationship just in case their friend decided to chastise Roxas again. They were so indulged in their conversation that they lost track of time; Ken had to come back to give them their dinner. By the time they decided to call it a day it was already dark outside.

"Well, that was satisfying," Axel yawned and stretched his arms as they exited the small shop, "I guess I'll be seeing you both on Monday?"

"Yes," Naminé smiled, "And you better be studying for your Calculus quiz!"

The pyromaniac guffawed and waved his hand dismissively. "Psh - Calculus, Schmalculus; I can ace that thing with my eyes closed and my hands tied behind my back."

"It's hard to believe you're actually doing well in school," Roxas chuckled, "After only two months of regularly attending class it's a wonder how your marks just skyrocketed."

"I know," The artist agreed, "Think about what he's capable of if he attended class all year round - no, scratch that - all _four years."_

"Ha-ha," The redhead rolled his vivid green eyes and reached for his truck's door handle, "It's nice to see you both have faith in me." He clambered into the driver's seat and jokingly saluted them with his index and middle fingers. "See you later."

Once Axel's roaring truck was out of earshot Naminé yawned and pressed her cheek against Roxas' chest. Her arms tightened around his waist and she closed her eyes. "Ugh, all that ramen made me sleepy."

He chuckled and rubbed slow circles on her back with his hands. "Let's get you home."

When he drove up to the front doors of the Hinomoto manor around twenty minutes later Naminé was very close to falling asleep. She leaned against Roxas the entire way up to her room, and when they got there he opened the door for her and shook his head in amusement as she flopped belly-first onto her soft bed, pulling him down with her. She felt his eyes on her for a few minutes, and then he began to move around as if he was about to get up to leave but she reached for his wrists and tugged him back towards her; he obediently lowered himself onto the mattress so that he was lying beside her, and he pulled her against his chest. She yawned again and snuggled against him, fitting her head into the crook of his neck. His cologne enraptured her, sending her into a warm, pleasant daze, and she hummed in pleasure. His hands were working on her back again, and the temptation of sleep seemed closer than ever.

"Mm," She mumbled drowsily, "I wish you could stay - you're the greatest teddy bear."

Roxas laughed quietly and kissed her forehead. "I would've wanted nothing more, but unfortunately circumstances won't permit that." He pulled away from her and sat up, ruffling his hair and smiling coyly down at her. "We can do something tomorrow, if you'd like."

She smiled and reached for one of his hands, lacing their fingers together. "Sounds like a plan." She lifted her upper body off the mattress, supporting her weight with her elbows, and he leaned down so they could meet lips. When they broke apart he gave her one last peck before standing up and leaving the room, closing the door soundlessly behind him.

Sighing, Naminé rubbed her upper arms and made her way to the bathroom to change and wash up for the night. She absently tugged on her hair as she moved to sit on the edge of her bed, and she unclasped her necklace and placed it on her nightstand before swinging her legs onto the mattress and turning off the light. She pulled the white covers over her small body and nestled into her pillow, sighing again as she closed her eyes. Her full stomach made it easier to fall asleep, and she was out in minutes.

Sometime later a loud ringing interrupted her peaceful slumber, causing her to bolt upwards into a sitting position. Her eyes were wide as she fearfully clutched the blankets to her chin, but when she glanced over to her nightstand and realized that it was her phone that was ringing she blushed and lowered her hands. She groaned lazily as she reached for her phone, and when her eyes found the time her mood worsened: it was half-past one in the morning.

Her eyes narrowed when she read Roxas' name on her call display. "What the heck are you doing calling me in the middle of the night?" She hissed; her free hand was pulling frustratingly on her hair, "I was all nice and cozy in my bed, sleeping like a baby, and then you-"

"But soft, what light through yonder window breaks?" Roxas asked mysteriously; there was the swishing sound of an outdoor breeze in the background.

The blonde raised an eyebrow at his enigmatic words, and she furrowed her brow as she tried to remember just where she heard that line before. "Erm, come again?" The line was dead; he had hung up on her.

Grumbling under her breath, she set her phone back on her bedside table and glanced confusedly around the room, tugging on her hair. She repeated the line in her head as she slowly rose to her feet, wandering towards the foot of her bed.

"But soft, what light through yonder window breaks?"She murmured to herself, and her eyes automatically flitted towards her window. For some reason she felt nervous as she approached it; she unlatched it with shaky hands and pushed it open.

At first the pitch of night made it impossible to see, but then a glare of light from below caught her attention and she looked downwards to see Roxas grinning up at her with a flashlight in his hand. Her eyes widened and she frantically searched the rest of the back property, though it was much too dark to see anything.

"What are you doing here?" She whispered nervously, unsure if he could even hear her, "No, wait - how the hell did you even end up here without getting caught?"

"I'll explain soon," He called out to her in a perfectly normal speaking voice, "Just give me a second." He walked closer to the wall, and she had to lean out of her window to keep an eye on him. There was the rustling sound of a few leaves being disturbed, and she raised an eyebrow. Her heart leapt to her throat when her fingers grazed the wall just below her windowsill, remembering how every inch of it was covered in a thick layer of vine.

She stepped back and waited patiently with her hands behind her back as he scaled the wall. Minutes later she caught the bright stream of his flashlight and the tips of his messy blond hair poking out from beneath her windowsill. Beaming animatedly, she skipped closer to the window and helped him into her room. She giggled as she pulled out the few leaves that had managed to wedge themselves in between his wayward spikes, tossing them out of the window before latching it shut.

Roxas flipped his flashlight off and captured her lips in a hungry, smoldering kiss; her hands relaxed against his chest and they slid up to tangle themselves in his hair. They swayed on the spot as the kiss deepened, and the only reason why they pulled apart minutes later was to gasp for air.

"You," She heaved in between breaths, grasping the front of his shirt and pulling him close so that their foreheads touched, "Are...an idiot." She glanced over his shoulder to stare at her window. "What if those vines broke? You could've wound up as a paraplegic!"

"Those vines have been there ever since before we were born, Naminé," He chuckled as he pulled her away from the window and back towards her bed, "They're more than enough to support my own weight, and if it makes you feel better they're growing on a trellis so there's some sort of a foundation." He rolled his left shoulder, and she noticed that there was some rope wound around it. "If you're still worried I've got myself prepared for next time."

She blushed furiously when he mentioned 'next time', and she watched him as he pulled the rope off and tucked it underneath her bed. He grinned as he moved to sit on the edge of the bed, and she shook her head when she sat down beside him. "So, are you going to explain how you managed to sneak past security?"

He chuckled and pointed to himself. "Do you remember who I am, Naminé? What I'm a part of?"

"Oh."

He laughed and pulled her into his arms, nuzzling his head against hers and breathing in deep. "Well, _was_ a part of." He corrected himself, and she glanced up at him in confusion. "I'm thinking of quitting." He answered her unspoken question, and her mouth slightly parted in surprise.

"Why? I thought they were your closest friends!"

"They'll still _be_ my closest friends, Naminé - I just won't be running around causing trouble with them anymore...or maybe just not as much trouble as before." He smirked, and she rolled her eyes. "Remember what Axel told you? Everyone in The XIII is looking for something that'll complete them, to make them feel whole." He smiled and briefly kissed her on the lips. "I already found that, so what's the point in staying?"

She blushed and pressed her embarrassed face into his neck. "How are you so sure that I'm the one who completes you?"

"Oh, that's easy," He lowered their bodies onto the bed and skimmed his lips over her jawline, "Only you would make me feel like I've been running in circles for the past few months," He kissed the sensitive skin behind her ear, and she stiffened, "And you're the only one I'd sneak out in the middle of the night for." He lifted his head to press his mouth against hers, running his tongue over her bottom lip before gently probing into her mouth. She groaned and reached for his hair, heatedly running her fingers through his blond spikes and arching her back to force their bodies closer together. She gasped when she felt his hand, still cool from the chilly evening air, cup behind her knee to hitch her leg up against his side. She complied with the other leg, wrapping it around his waist and pulling him even closer. His hands wandered around to her back, shyly reaching underneath the thin fabric of her shirt and rubbing the burning skin.

"R-Roxas-" She stuttered, breaking free from him to gasp for air. Her face was red and her hair was sticking to her cheeks. Her limbs were tingling and she felt very warm inside.

He peered down at her sheepishly; his chest was heaving and there was a faint shade of pink painted across his perfect face. "Sorry." He rolled off of her and pulled her in for a hug, pressing his head against hers. "I can't…" He hesitated for a bit, and she glanced up at him in confusion; he looked very crestfallen, like he had been caught doing something terribly wrong. "I need to learn how to restrain myself from you." He shook his head, as if he was scolding himself. "All those months apart...it's like they're all rushing back now that we're finally together, and I feel like it's all channeling out whenever I'm alone with you." His frown deepened and he eased his face into the crook of her neck. "I'm sorry, Naminé," He apologized again, "I-"

She pressed a finger to his lips. "There's no rush; we have all the time in the world," She smiled at him and she dropped her hand to peck his mouth, "And you don't have to push yourself to hold back. I trust you, Roxas; I'm pretty sure you know what you're doing."

He frowned and leaned into her neck again. "You know I'd never force you into anything you don't feel comfortable doing." His voice was muffled against her skin.

"I know." She gently threaded her fingers through his hair and kissed the side of his head. She pushed him away a little to stare into his eyes. "Let's get some sleep, okay?"

He nodded and sat up to remove his shoes and socks as she crawled underneath the covers. She watched him sit on the edge of the bed for a minute, wondering why he was not doing anything else. He finally glanced over his shoulder to face her; his hand was awkwardly rubbing the back of his hair. "Er," His eyes darted to the side for a moment, "I know this isn't going to make things any better but I kind of didn't bring anything to wear."

The image of him sleeping in his boxers flashed before her and she forcefully blinked it away. "Well, as long as you don't sleep in the nude I'm fine with whatever." She smiled nervously; her face was a bright red but the lack of light made it difficult to see, thankfully.

His eyes widened momentarily, and then he sighed in defeat. "Alright, if you say so." His hands moved to his shirt, and she gulped as he began to unbutton it. He shrugged out of the plaid button-up and her face heated up when she pored over the defined muscles of his back. He stood up and her blush worsened when she spotted his boxers sticking out from the waistband of his jeans. Her heart thumped loudly in her ears as he unfastened his belt and shimmied out of his pants. The silvery moonlight cascaded over his slim but toned body, exaggerating his features and bringing out every detail. His dark, dark eyes glinted as he slunk in beside her with a hint of an embarrassed blush on his face and a timid smile curving his mouth.

"Okay, I'll be honest with you," He chuckled softly as he wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her close, "I don't really _wear _clothes to sleep. Just this."

A part of her wanted to tell him that this was not the first time she had seen him in his underwear, but the other, more dominant part of her wanted to keep it a secret.

Now that there was no longer a shirt to barricade her from his bare skin the scent of his cologne was stronger than ever, and she could feel herself getting a little lightheaded as she sighed against his collarbone. "Like I said - as long as you don't sleep naked everything's good to go." She fastened her arms around his neck and cuddled closer against his body. A small smile hovered over her lips when she felt one of his arms move up from her waist to hug her shoulders. She yawned as the heaviness of sleep began to return to her, and her eyes fluttered half-closed. "Goodnight, Roxas."

"'Night, Naminé." She felt his lips against her forehead before she blanked out for the night.

--

_A.N: More fluff! Don't worry, it's not all pointless. I just needed a break from all that dark, plot-related stuff - the story _really_ resumes next chapter._

_The title of this chapter is taken from the song _If Lily Isn't Back By Sunset, _by Cinematic Sunrise. This song influenced the garden scene, up until right before Axel oh so rudely interrupts their moment together =)_

_The two songs that played before Coldplay's _Yellow _were _Speechless _by Self Against City and _Down _by blink-182._


	27. Drama Queen

_A/N: Who needs Edward Cullen when you've got Roxas?_

_--_

**Drama Queen.**

White, pure sunlight danced in and out of Naminé's room on Sunday morning; the delicate patterns weaved on the lacy curtains casted intricate shadows on the white carpet. The blonde yawned and shook her head, rubbing her eyes with her knuckles and rolling around to face the opposite side. She smiled when she found Roxas dozing peacefully beside her, his back rising and falling with every breath and his mouth partially open. She lifted her upper body on her elbows and leaned over him to press her cheek against his shoulder blade, closing her eyes as she listened to the steady rhythm of his heartbeat. He stirred a little, mumbling to himself, but he remained asleep; she shook her head a little in amusement and kissed his cheek, her fingers wandering towards his hair. She worked through his scalp and stifled a giggle when the serene smile on his face broadened, and she kissed him again.

Suddenly there was a knock on her door. "Nami?"

The blonde's pulse quickened and her eyes widened; she anxiously stared down at Roxas' sleeping form, and then glanced towards the door. "Er, just a second!" She shook him by the shoulder, but he did not wake up; huffing furiously, she leaned in and blew harshly into his ear. "Wake up!" She hissed, "Kairi's at the door!"

"Huh..." Roxas' eyes opened slowly and he blinked at her, half-asleep and disorientated. "What's-"

"Dammit," Naminé grabbed him by the wrist and pulled him off the bed, shoving him into her closet. She jumped on her mattress and dove for his clothes on the opposite side, grabbing and tossing them into the closet as well. She scrambled over to her door and attempted to straighten her hair before opening it. "'Morning, Kairi."

The redhead was suspicious, no doubt. "Uh, 'morning. You look like you just ran a marathon."

The blonde managed to give her cousin a small, but nervous smile. "Y-yeah, room was a little messy. Didn't want you to see my stuff scattered everywhere."

Kairi seemed to take the bait; she rolled her eyes and flopped onto the bed, bouncing slightly under the springs. "You're such a neat freak." She laughed, and Naminé forced herself to laugh alongside her.

The blonde mechanically turned to face the closet, and her eyes nearly popped out of their sockets when she realized she left the door open. She hastily made her way towards it and closed it. "So," She turned around and sat beside her cousin, "What did you do yesterday?"

"Not much," Her cousin shrugged nonchalantly, though her eyes were trained on the blonde's closet door, "Went out with Sora. Watched a movie, and then afterwards he embarrassed me by practically inhaling three full plates of chicken parmesan. He tried to make it up to me by taking me shopping - which worked, by the way," She laughed and Naminé laughed too, but this time it was a real one, "Keep that in mind for the next time Roxas humiliates you."

A dull thud was heard from the other side of the closet door, and the blonde's heart felt like it had plummeted straight into her stomach. "Something must've dropped," She was tugging so hard on her hair she thought she was going to rip it clean off her scalp, "It's a jungle in there - I haven't cleaned it in ages."

"Hm," Kairi slowly got up and began to approach the door, "Why don't we clean it out, and then we'll go out with the boys later?" Her hand was inches away from the doorknob when Naminé stepped in between with a too-wide grin on her pale face.

"Er, really, I don't think you want to go in there," She was still pulling on her hair, "It's really, _really_ bad."

The redhead raised an auburn eyebrow. "Okay, now I _know_ you're hiding something." She shoved her cousin to the side, but Naminé leapt back and spread her arms wide, guarding the door. Kairi shook her head and laughed. "What is it, Nami? It can't be that bad! C'mon," She playfully pushed her aside and placed her hand on the doorknob.

"Kairi…" The artist groaned as she slapped a hand to her face in mortification. She followed her cousin inside, and her heartbeat quickened when her cousin flicked the light switch.

"Huh," The redhead crossed her arms and glanced around the seemingly normal walk-in closet, "You were acting up over _this?"_

The blonde was just as surprised and confused as her cousin was. "Erm…" She tugged on her hair, trying to force the lump down her throat, "Y-yes…?"

Kairi spun around and shook her head in amusement. "See, what's super messy to you is super _neat_ to me. You're overreacting, Nami - your closet's spotless!" She hugged her cousin briefly. "Go get ready - I'm gonna call Sora, and then the four of us will go out and have some fun."

Naminé's eyes were shifting around her closet, trying to look for a head of tousled hair or a black, red and white plaid shirt. "Um, okay."

She heard Kairi step out of her room and close the door behind her; the moment she was gone the pile of clothes in the corner began to tremble, and out jumped Roxas. He had his jeans and shoes on, but he was clutching his shirt in his fist. "Wow," He chuckled and shook his head, "Those are your _dirty_ clothes? They smell like they just came out of the drier." He stretched his arms, and her eyes automatically ran over his perfectly sculpted chest and abdomen; her blush darkened when she stopped on the waistband of his white and blue striped boxers protruding from his jeans.

"You hid in my _dirty pile?!"_ Naminé screeched after she came back to her senses, though her face was still a rich scarlet, "Did you...did you see anything you weren't supposed to see?"

"No," He held his hands up, "I had my eyes closed the entire time, and it was too dark to see anything anyway. Honest."

"You better be." The artist muttered acidly. She groaned and pressed her forehead against his bare shoulder. "That was _too_ close, Roxas Katsura." His cologne wafted into her nostrils, making her eyes close in intoxication.

He laughed and wrapped his arms around her, squeezing her affectionately. "You have to admit that it was a little exciting - the thrill of sneaking around, trying to avoid getting caught-"

"You do that on a regular basis," She opened her eyes to glare up at him, "So you be quiet."

He laughed again and kissed her mouth softly. When they broke apart he finally put his shirt on and she buttoned it up for him. He pulled her out of the closet and reached for the rope underneath her bed. "I better head home before Sora finds out I disappeared again."

She smiled. "Yeah, that'll make Kairi even more suspicious." She warily eyed her window. "Won't someone see you?"

"There's no security out back," He grinned as he unlocked her window, "Not even a single camera. I'll be fine."

"What if someone sees you from another window?"

"No one will, trust me." He tied one end of the rope to her bedpost and tossed the other end out of the window, watching it unfurl and dangle just a few feet above the cobblestone patio; it was nearly invisible against the dark leaves.

He was about to swing one leg over the windowsill when she reached for his upper arm. "Wait," She scrambled over to her desk and grabbed the black blazer that was thrown over her chair; she tossed it over to him with a faint blush painted on her cheeks, "I've been meaning to give that back to you, but I keep forgetting."

"I was wondering where this went." He chuckled as he threw it over his shoulders and stuck his arms through the sleeves. He climbed out of the window carefully with one hand on the rope, but before descending he leaned in for one last kiss. "I'll see you soon."

She leaned out of her window and watched him climb all the way down, and when he touched the floor he smirked up at her before dashing off. She rolled her eyes as she pulled the rope back into her room and untied it from her bedpost, and she kicked it underneath her bed before heading to the bathroom to take a shower. She changed into a powder blue embroidered tank top with thin straps, dark blue denim bermuda shorts and matching light blue flip-flops. She was flattening her damp hair with her hands as she made her way out of her room.

"Ready?" Kairi had just stepped out of her own room dressed in faded blue jeans, a golf shirt with thick white and pink stripes and white and pink sneakers. She was checking something on her cell phone.

"Um, do you know what we're gonna be doing?" The artist asked as they made their way down the marble staircase. They pushed the wooden double doors open, revealing another perfect spring day; the sky was a clear, endless blue and the sun was round and bright.

"Sora was dumb enough to challenge me to a one-on-one in soccer, so we're gonna meet them at the park," The redhead smirked, "And then afterwards we can get lunch and we'll do something else."

The blonde pulled on her hair. "I thought Sora was good at soccer - he's on the team, isn't he?"

"Yeah, but that doesn't mean he's as good as I am." The girls walked past the gates and down the street; the park was just a block or so away. The birds chirped animatedly over their heads, flitting around the sky in pairs. The sun glistened over the McMansions, and Naminé could not help but awe at the sight.

"I'm still not used to how everything's so perfect here," She shook her head in disbelief, "I swear, even when it was cold and grey and snowy the neighbourhood still looked like something from a movie."

"When you say 'everything' are you implying more than just the houses and the landscapes?" Kairi wiggled her eyebrows, and the blonde's face reddened. The redhead giggled and threw her arms around her cousin, capturing her in a tight hug. "Oh, you don't know how happy I've been for you in the past couple of months. You're finally getting what you deserve," She sighed dreamily, "And Roxas is so sweet to you too - sooo cute."

"Yeah, it's a nice change from all those months he's been acting like such a jerk," Naminé mumbled, her eyes cast to her flip-flops, "But there's one thing that's bothering me."

Her cousin lifted her head from the blonde's shoulder, shocked. "What?"

"Well," Naminé was tugging on her hair again, "Don't get me wrong - I love the way things are going right now and I can't ask for anything more, but he's always trying to make up for the months we _should've_ been together...y'know what I mean? He's still feeling guilty over what happened," She frowned, "And it makes me sad that he's acting that way. He shouldn't be worrying over the past - it's over now, and everything is as it should be. I thought he'd see that by now."

Kairi scoffed. "Well, to be honest with you I don't know why you're complaining - he deserves to sulk over what he's done. This is what he gets for hurting you, Nami; it's about time he's atoned for his mistakes."

"But he's done so much for me in the past couple months," She countered, "He's been spending almost every hour of almost every day with me (memories of last night were still fresh in her mind and she could not help but blush), he told me yesterday that he was thinking of quitting The XIII, and remember when I got sick on Valentines? He visited me every day after school until I got better, bringing me my homework and even making me soup!" She laughed at Kairi's flabbergasted expression. _"Soup, _Kairi, and it was the best soup I've ever had in my entire life - no lie!"

Her redheaded cousin sighed and shook her head. "You got the better brother." She muttered as Naminé laughed again. The park was in plain sight now, and the first thing they saw was a blond boy trapping his brown-haired brother in a headlock in the middle of the soccer field. Sora's pained cries could be heard even from where they were standing, and Kairi groaned as she pinched the bridge of her nose. "See what I mean?"

"Ladies," Roxas, who was dressed in an entirely new outfit, greeted them suavely with that typical smirk of his as they approached him; he muffled Sora's protests by clamping a hand over his mouth, "Sleep well?" His eyes darted over to Naminé for a split second, and she would have missed it if she blinked.

"Er," She stammered, her face beet-red, "Yeah - best sleep of my life." She smiled, and his answering smile was as bright as the sun above their heads.

"May I ask why you have my boyfriend in a headlock?" Kairi was chuckling and staring down at the poor brunet, who was slightly blue in the face.

"Oh," Roxas glanced down at his brother and immediately relinquished his hold on him; Sora straightened up and coughed violently in the background as the blond tried to explain, "He was being...uncooperative."

The brunet shot him a glare. "W-well," He choked in between gasps, "I-it's not...m-my fault y-"

Roxas bent down, grabbed the soccer ball lying by his sneakers, straightened up and threw it into Sora's unsuspecting hands, causing the brunet to 'oof!' in surprise. He managed to do all of that in one swift movement - in fact it was so swift he nearly looked like a blur. "Don't you have a soccer game to win?"

Kairi tilted her head to the side. "You're not playing?"

"Nah," Naminé shook her head as Roxas stepped closer towards her, "Sports are the bane of my existence, remember? Don't want to be responsible for breaking any of your bones - by accident, of course."

Sora grimaced and clutched his stomach; when his brother threw him the ball he was not expecting it and so it partially hit him in the abdomen. "A-alright. You...you two run along then. I'll be b-busy kicking Kairi's butt."

The redhead stepped back, affronted. "Um, what are you talking about? It's _your_ butt that's gonna get kicked!" She snatched the soccer ball out of her boyfriend's hands and stuck her tongue out at him before zipping down the soccer field. Sora cast his brother a nasty glare before barreling forward to follow her.

"What was that all about?" Naminé asked curiously, glancing up at the blond.

"Nothing," Roxas shrugged as he wrapped an arm around her waist and held her close to his side, "We just had a little exchange. C'mon," He pulled her over to his skateboard, which was sitting on the grass not so far away from them.

She eyed it suspiciously as he stomped on the tail, sending the nose straight into his awaiting hand. "Wh-what are you doing with that?"

He led her over to the playground, where there was a strip of smooth black pavement circling around its perimeter. He placed the skateboard gently on the ground, straightening it with his foot, and then reached for her other hand. "Step on," He instructed, nodding down towards the skateboard, "Make sure to put your foot on the front bolts."

She made a face. "Since when did I agree to do this?"

Roxas furrowed his brow in mock concentration. "Hm, if I can recall…" He suddenly broke into a wide, childish grin, "Never."

"Didn't I just mention how sports were the bane of my existence?"

"I'm not going to make you do anything difficult, Naminé," He chuckled, "Now hurry up and step on." He squeezed her hands to reassure her. "I'm not going to let go, don't worry."

She cursed under her breath and bit her bottom lip as she slowly placed her left foot on the skateboard, right on top of the four screws near the nose. She glanced up at him expectantly, waiting for his instruction.

"Okay, now put your other foot on the back bolts."

Groaning, she lifted her right foot, whining in fear when she felt the wheels of the skateboard inch forward underneath her weight. Roxas' fingers were firmly laced with hers as she shifted her entire weight onto the blasted skateboard, stumbling a little when she tried to regain her equilibrium. In mere minutes she found herself teetering awkwardly on his skateboard with her trembling hands in his; she felt like an idiot, and when she peered up at his smirking face she felt even stupider.

In her head she pictured a not-so-pretty image of herself somehow falling off the skateboard and landing flat on her face on the solid pavement; she cringed and stared desperately into his navy depths. "Alright, I've done what you wanted me to do," Her nervousness was making her speak a little faster than usual, "So can I get off now?"

"No," He grinned, and then he began to step backwards; the wheels rolled underneath her, and she squeaked in surprise when she began to move with it. She could feel every little bump and scar of the pavement as Roxas pulled her, and even though she knew she was going too slow to cause an accident she did not rule out the possibility.

Minutes later he slowed to a stop, and she breathed a sigh of relief. She jumped off a little too eagerly and the skateboard slipped underneath her, causing her to tumble forwards. She yelped, but Roxas was quick to react; he pulled their joined hands towards him, sending her straight into his arms.

"That was your fault, not mine." He laughed at her blushing, scowling face.

"Hey!" Sora shouted in the distance; the blondes turned their heads towards the source of his voice and found the brunet walking in their direction with Kairi mounted on his back, "You guys wanna head out for lunch?"

Roxas released one of Naminé's hands to grab his skateboard. "Sure, I don't mind," He glanced over towards the smaller blonde, "Do you?" When she shook her head he turned back towards his brother. "What do you want to eat?"

"Hm," Sora's forehead creased in thought, "Y'know, I've actually been craving-_urgh!"_

Kairi's arms tightened around his neck, cutting off his air supply. "Hey, _I_ won, so I get to pick." She leaned over his shoulder and grinned innocently at him as she slackened her hold around his neck.

"F-fine," The poor brunet croaked, and the blondes laughed.

The redhead decided on sushi, so the foursome walked back to the Katsura manor to fetch Sora's car. Kairi sat in the passenger's seat and Roxas sat in the back with Naminé. The sushi restaurant they decided to go to was all the way in Deyton, close to the square. Afterwards they strolled around the city, and the boys were given the unfortunate task of holding their girlfriends' shopping bags when they reached the commercial district. They had dinner at a small café before heading back home.

"You're lucky I'm not a heavy shopper like my cousin," Naminé grinned as she gratefully took the bags hanging off of Roxas' arms, "I would've given you a workout."

The blond shook his head in amusement; in the near distance Sora and Kairi were arguing about something irrelevant, "I don't mind." His phone began to ring, and he pulled it out of his pocket to answer it. He rolled his eyes at the name on his call display, and the artist instantly knew who the caller was. "Axel, it's kind of late to be bothering me right now-" The pyromaniac's voice cut him off, and Roxas' brow furrowed. "-what? No, I haven't, why?"

He sounded a little worried; Naminé's head cocked to the side and she slid her hand down to his free one, winding their fingers together.

"I don't know - maybe. You can try, but I doubt it." Roxas frowned, and the more he listened to his best friend talk the deeper his frown grew. "Uh, sure, but it's not guaranteed; I have to get back to you - I'm with Naminé right now." He rolled his eyes. "Shut up. Okay, okay, I'll talk to you in ten. Later."

"What's wrong?" She asked quietly as he pocketed his phone.

He shook his head and fastened his arms around her waist, pulling her close and resting his chin atop her forehead. "Nothing, nothing," He murmured, though it was quite obvious something was bothering him; he leaned in to peck her softly on the lips. "I'll pick you up tomorrow morning, okay?"

She nodded, but there was a slight frown curved on her lips. "Okay."

He gave her a small squeeze before jogging back to his brother's car, and she waved until it drove out of the gates.

"What were you two arguing about?" Naminé asked her cousin as they walked up the stairs to their rooms; she was trying to distract herself from her thoughts on Roxas.

"He wants a rematch," Kairi rolled her eyes, "He never learns…"

Roxas was there to pick the girls up the next morning like he promised, but there was something off about him; he seldom talked, and he did not even crack a smile at any of Sora's bad jokes. When they arrived at school he walked her to homeroom and kissed her like always, but the distracted look in his eyes was still there and it bothered her.

"I always thought I was the one who was bad at hiding things," Naminé smirked; her expression softened as she took his hands in hers and glanced up at him with concern, "Are you sure you're going to be okay?"

He gave her a small smile and nuzzled his head against hers. "Yes, I'll be fine. I'll see you next period."

"There's definitely something up with him," Sora muttered once his brother disappeared around the corner, "I heard him last night; he was on the phone with Axel and a few other people."

"Hm," Kairi scratched the side of her head, "Did you manage to pick up anything?"

"Not really," The brunet frowned, "His door was locked and he was playing music so it was really hard to hear, but I could tell by the sound of his voice that there was a problem."

Naminé tugged on her hair as they entered their Business classroom; she guessed she had to put her hopes of Roxas quitting The XIII on hold for now.

In Geography he was still distant, but she could tell he was trying to pay attention to her and it made her feel guilty. Olette eyed the two questionably but was too polite to inquire about it, and even if she did ask Naminé had no idea what to tell her.

When the blondes met Axel and Demyx in the cafeteria the seniors looked like they were just about to leave. Roxas gave them both a curt nod as they rose from their seats, and Axel remembered to tousle the smaller blonde's hair before leaving the room.

"Where are they going?" She asked, her eyes following them out of the cafeteria.

"Nowhere important." Roxas replied vaguely; he half-turned towards her, but his eyes were not staring into hers. "Do you want to eat here, outside or at your locker?"

"Erm, my locker." She mumbled, disappointed that he was not being very detailed, and she watched him take her hand and pull her out of the building. When they reached her locker he sat down in front, resting his back against the door, and she sat in between his legs. He gave her a sandwich, and she forced him to eat the second half. When they were finished with their sea-salt ice cream the emotion pressing painfully against her ribcage was almost too much to bear, and she turned around to face him. "Roxas," Her voice was soft, "I...I don't want to make you feel like you're obliged to tell me everything that's going on in your life, but I just want you to know that I'm here for you and that I'll always be by your side, regardless of the decisions you make."

He gave her a sad smile and leaned in to rest his cheek against hers. "I know," He murmured, "And I'm really sorry for worrying you - it's just..." He hesitated for a moment, and her eyes glanced sideways at him; he let out a defeated sigh and shook his head, his hair tickling her skin, "Xion's been missing for two days."

The blonde's eyes widened. "What?" She knew how close Roxas was to the raven-haired girl, and she could not imagine what he was going through right now. "How did that happen?"

He tightened his hold on her waist and buried his face into the back of her shoulder. "No one knows," His voice was muffled against her sweater vest, "Lexaeus was the last one to see her; he said she told him that she was just going out for a walk, and she never came back." He groaned and shook his head. "Axel and Demyx just left to search for her, but I doubt they'll be able to find her in such a large city. There's no telling where she is now."

"Weird," Naminé frowned, "The city's huge - does she know her way around, at least?"

"She grew up with Axel and I," He replied upsettingly, "Of course she does."

Guilt pulsed inside of her. "W-why didn't you go out with Axel and Demyx?"

"I didn't want to leave you alone." He answered almost immediately.

"I'm a big girl," She smirked, "I think I can survive a few lunch periods and evenings after school without you." She rubbed his arms and pecked the corner of his mouth. "You should be looking for your friend with Axel and Demyx, Roxas. Don't waste your time here," An idea concocted into her head but she was a little skeptical of bringing it up; after a few quick seconds of debating she decided to go through with it anyway, "Or I can come wi-"

"No," Roxas cut in sternly, "A thousand times _no."_

"Oh c'mon," The artist threw up her hands in exasperation, "It's a win-win situation! I'll be with you so you don't have to worry about me, and at the same time you'll be looking for Xion!"

"I'm not putting you in danger again, Naminé," He growled, "It's one thing to have a close friend missing, but to lose you…" He faltered and shook his head, pressing his face against her neck, "I don't even want to think about it."

She rolled her eyes and squirmed away from him. "Oh, you are such a drama queen-" She spun around and grabbed his face in her hands, forcing him to stare into her eyes, "-if you don't want me to come with you at least use your lunch period and your time after school to look for her. Looking for Xion should be your priority right now, not me," She smiled softly and brushed the bangs out of his eyes, "She needs you more than I do at the moment."

"Naminé…" He groaned and pressed his forehead against hers, "Are you sure about this?" His thumb was rubbing circles against the skin behind her ear, "What are you going to do during lunch?"

She laughed and bumped noses with him. "I'll find something to distract myself with, don't worry." She leaned in to kiss his mouth, smiling when she tasted the sea-salt ice cream on his lips.

"But Friday is still on," He reminded her as he took her hands and stood up, pulling her up with her, "I made reservations, remember?"

"I know, I know," She rolled her eyes, though she was still smiling, "I didn't forget about that, don't worry."

He walked her to Art after that, and when she met him in Science an hour and ten minutes later he seemed to be his old self again (which meant sneaking her kisses when Mr. Erizawa was not looking and holding her hand underneath the table; they learned to ignore the disgusted protests from their fellow students sitting behind them). As the day drew to a close he grew hesitant about leaving again, but she stood firm and forced him to go - she even threatened to call Axel.

"I'm gonna call and tell him to expect you if you don't stop moping around like that," She grumbled as they approached Sora and Kairi by the entrance to the SS Building, 'And you know he's gonna listen to what I say - he still hasn't forgiven you!"

Roxas groaned. "Alright, alright - I'll go," He shook his head and exhaled sharply, "But I won't be out late. I'll call you when I'm home."

"Oh, you're so well-behaved," She cooed jokingly, leaning against his arm, "If only you were like this when school started." He cast her a dismal look, and she laughed and stood on her tiptoes to daintily kiss his lips. "I kid, I kid."

When he dropped her and Kairi off at home he stepped out of the car with them, circling the hood and grasping the blonde's upper arm before she even had the chance to think of reaching for the door handle. "Naminé," He whirled her around and kissed her longingly, hungrily; her eyes were wide open from shock and she could feel Kairi and Sora's eyes on her back. When they broke apart Roxas nuzzled his head against hers and whispered into her ear, "Don't forget that I love you."

Her blush worsened, but she smiled and reached upwards to stroke his cheek. "I won't," Her expression drastically changed; she rolled her eyes, grabbed his shoulders, forced him to turn around and aggressively shoved him towards his car, "Now stop being so dramatic and go find your friend!" She hollered, and he grinned sheepishly at her before ducking inside.

"So why's he been acting so moody earlier?" Kairi asked curiously when they finally entered the mansion.

"Remember that girl I told you about," Naminé tugged on her hair as she opened the door to her room, "The one I thought he was, er, _with?"_

"Oh - the one we saw downtown with him? That was so long ago…" Kairi scratched her head as she moved to sit on the edge of her cousin's bed, "But yeah, what about her?"

"Well, she's really close to him and Axel - they grew up together - and he found out yesterday that she's been missing for two days," The blonde frowned, "And nobody has no idea where she might've run off to."

"Oh no," The redhead gasped, "That's terrible."

"I know - I feel so bad for him," The artist sighed as she leaned backwards to lie across the mattress, "He wants to help the others look for her but at the same time he's being stupid, thinking that I constantly need his attention or something," She shook her head, her white-blonde hair splaying over the white sheets like she was underwater, "I like him being around and all, but he needs to remember that there are other people in his life too."

Kairi laughed and leaned back to lie beside her cousin. "Y'know, I would've been a total opposite - I would've _thrived _in the constant attention." She rolled on her side to face her. "He's just trying to be a good boyfriend, Nami - it's obvious he cares for you a lot. He's practically head over heels!"

The mention of the word _boyfriend_ made Naminé's face go red. "I-I know he is, and I know that he cares for me," She sighed shakily, "He's always telling me that he loves me but I'm too pathetic and cowardly to say it back." She groaned and pressed her hands to her face. "I know there's more than one way to express your feelings but I want to be able to say it at least once so I can let him know directly. I don't even know why I'm afraid of saying it anymore!"

"At least he's not making you feel like he's pressuring you into doing anything," Kairi shrugged, "He's always telling you that he'll wait."

"But I don't want to make him wait anymore."

"Look at this as an opportunity to get him back after making _you _wait all those months," The redhead smirked, "It can work."

"But I don't want to do that," Naminé frowned, "I just want to be able to actually say it to his face."

Later that night at around nine, Roxas kept his promise and called her. He sounded very tired and downhearted, and the strain in his voice tugged painfully at her heartstrings.

"We searched the places we thought we'd find her in," He sighed, "But she's nowhere to be found." He paused for a minute, probably to run his fingers through his hair. "I don't know what else to do."

"Don't give up just yet, Roxas," She reassured him, "She's bound to be somewhere in the city. Where else could she be?"

"That's what's worrying us the most - what if something bad happened to her? What if she's hurt in the middle of nowhere and she can't call for help? What if someone's taken her?" His voice was growing higher with panic. "I don't know what I'd do if something's happened to her…"

The sting of jealousy made itself present in the pit of Naminé's stomach but she forced herself to push it aside. "I'm pretty sure she's okay," She replied quietly, her free hand tugging on her hair, "And like I said you shouldn't give up so fast. You should go look again tomorrow. Scour the entire city if you have to."

He was silent for a long time; she thought he had hung up on her. "I guess," His voice was soft and uncertain, "I'm going to try and sleep this off."

The artist smiled into her phone. "Good idea."

She could hear the smile in his voice. "'Night, Naminé. I love you - more than you'll ever know." Her face burned as she stuttered nervously into her phone, and her temperature only rose higher when she heard his laughter. He sighed; she could picture him ruffling his hair and shaking his head. "I can't even imagine how red your face must be."

"Quiet, you." She growled through gritted teeth.

He chuckled. "Sweet dreams." He hung up, and she rolled her eyes before setting her phone back on the bedside table.

--

_A/N: Y'know, after writing this chapter I realized how pimp Roxas is in the games: he's got Naminé, Olette (well, not really but I'll count her anyways) _and _Xion - I guess Axel sort of counts too, but it's more one-sided than anything and plus it's kind of funny to see him pine for him, only to have our favourite blond go about his day like he doesn't notice anything. Way to go, Roxas - thumbs up to you and your debonair ways!_


	28. Tray Bell Fee

_A/N: Hm, maybe we can start a trend with this Roxas over Edward thing - it'll bring KH to a wider audience _and_ we'll finally bring Twilight down! Sounds like such a perfect yet impossible idea..._

_--_

**Tray Bell Fee.**

Roxas was pale and sleepless for the remainder of the week, but Naminé could not blame him; if Kairi, Sora, Riku or any other of her friends mysteriously disappeared she would lose sleep too.

"We don't have to go out tomorrow, you know," She frowned as she stepped out of his car, eyeing the dark circles underneath his eyes, "We can go out next week, or after you find Xion."

"No," He answered her firmly, taking her hand in his, "I...I want to take you out, Naminé. I've hardly spent time with you this week."

"You're in two of my classes and you've called me every night - how can you say you haven't been spending time with me?" She sighed and shook her head, "I'm not going to disappear if you don't see me on a regular basis, Roxas. I can survive without you for a few days."

"I'm still taking you out tomorrow." He muttered stubbornly, and she groaned as they entered the SS Wing together. When they reached her homeroom he fastened his arms around her waist and leaned in for a kiss. "Do you mind if I stay over tonight?" He asked quietly; there was an adorably shy grin hovering over his lips, and her heart stuttered at the sight. "I think all I really need right now is a good night's sleep."

Excitement exploded inside of her. "I don't see why not." She grinned. He pecked her lips one last time before letting her go and disappearing around the corner.

"I thought you were against the whole PDA thing," Kairi shook her head as her cousin took her seat beside her, "On Valentines you were repulsed whenever you saw two people holding hands!"

The blonde flushed and tugged on her hair. "Erm, well…" Unable to think of a good enough answer, she lowered her eyes to her lap.

Sora tipped his chair backwards a little so it leaned on the back legs, and he raised his hands to cross them behind his head. "So he hasn't found Xion yet?"

"No," She frowned, "I hope nothing bad happened to her."

"Me too," Kairi's expression was nearly identical to her cousin's; her eyes lowered to her hands, which were absently playing with each other on her lap, "D'you...d'you think we can help somehow?"

Both Sora and Naminé leaned in towards her, intrigued. "What do you mean?" The blonde asked curiously, remembering to keep her voice low.

"I dunno," The redhead shrugged as she raised her hands to her keyboard to pretend she was working on her computer, "Maybe we can start our own search - Sora and I can go to Deyton after school, and you can concentrate on distracting and cheering up Roxas so he won't be suspicious."

"Yeah," The brunet nodded earnestly, "And maybe we can get Riku to help too, since most of his family works with the police and everything."

"Hm," The artist thoughtfully tugged on her hair, "You know, that just might work...but at the same time I don't want you guys to be risking anything. This can be dangerous."

"Ah, don't worry about that," Sora waved her words off dismissively, "I'm pretty sure we'll be able to do okay on our own. Plus if we get the others into this we'll be a bigger group, which means we'll be safer."

"Yeah - with a group as big as ours we're bound to find Xion!" Kairi's voice raised just a little in excitement, and Mrs. Yamanouchi shot her a scathing look. "Oops."

So Naminé relayed the information to Olette during Geography (she wrote it down in her notebook so Roxas would not hear anything) and of course the brunette happily agreed and said that she would pass the message onto Hayner, Wakka and Tidus.

"Just what exactly were you and Olette whispering about in Geography?" Roxas asked as they stepped onto the bleachers.

She cursed herself mentally; of course he would have noticed something. "Nothing of much importance," The blonde grinned innocently as she watched him throw his blazer around her shoulders, "At least not to you."

His eyes dulled. "Really now?"

"Yup." She bit into her sandwich. "Don't worry about it so much - you've got enough on your mind."

"Oh, so it's something to _worry _about?" He chuckled and shook his head as he reached for her hand, "What is it, Naminé?"

"Nothing," She replied quickly after she swallowed, and she grinned again when he raised an eyebrow, "Like I said, Roxas - don't worry about it."

He continued to pester her about it when he walked her to Art, but she did not give in. After explaining the plan to Pence (he agreed to take a part of this, of course) and class ended Roxas was there waiting outside the door with pure impatience and frustration written all over his perfect face.

"It's been bothering you, hasn't it?" She asked with a giggle as he stormed alongside her.

"Can you tell?" He muttered through gritted teeth as they descended the stairs. He glanced sideways at her and sighed. "Fine, if you don't want to tell me I won't force you."

"Glad you finally see it that way." She smiled and laced her fingers with his.

He did not mention it at all during Science, and he was quiet when he drove her and Kairi back home. For once she liked the silence.

"I'll see you soon." He whispered after kissing her softly; the look he had in his eyes told her he really did mean what he said, and it forced a blush upon her pale cheeks.

"Erm, yeah," She smiled nervously, her heart pumping irregularly. She waved as the BMW drove off, and she spun around to join her cousin.

"So everyone's in," Kairi grinned as they entered the house, "And Sora's gonna talk to Riku when he gets home so it's all good."

"That's good to hear." The blonde mumbled distractedly, pulling on her hair; she was too busy thinking about later tonight to properly listen to her cousin but she tried very hard to pay attention, "Um, so when is this search thing gonna start?"

"Tomorrow, I believe," The redhead grinned excitedly as she stopped in front of her door, "We just gotta see what Riku says."

"Uh huh," Naminé nodded slowly as her hand rested on the doorknob, "Well, I'm gonna get started on my homework. Later."

"Mmhmm." Her redheaded cousin disappeared behind her door, and the blonde moved to enter her own room. She dropped her bag on the floor by the foot of her bed like always, and walked into her closet to change into more comfortable clothing. The minute she walked out wearing loose mesh shorts and a white baggy t-shirt her phone began to ring. She raised an eyebrow when she read the name on her call display. "Riku?"

_"All_ of you want to search for a girl _none_ of us know?" He cried, and she cringed at the negativity in his tone, "Are you crazy?"

"I'm pretty sure you can get some info on her," Naminé insisted, "I mean, she's practically a part of The XIII and don't your parents work for the freaking secret service or something? They can get loads of info on her!"

"Secret service?" He sounded like he never heard of such a thing. "Well, fine, I can probably get some info, but I still don't see why it's necessary to do all of this. First of all none of us know her personally except for your _boyfriend-"_ He spat the title as if it tasted repulsive, "-second of all, we could be risking our lives, and third of all-"

"You said you owed Roxas for saving my butt on New Years," The blonde countered, "So you can use this opportunity to do just that. Makes sense, doesn't it?"

Riku was silent for a long time, but she knew he did not hang up on her because she could hear a little bit of background noise; he was probably still at school. "Fine, but it's only because of that reason and that reason alone."

"Yay," She sang cheerily, "I knew you'd come through."

"Whatever," He grumbled, "You owe me for this."

"No I don't - you're the one that's doing the owing here, mister."

"Ha-ha. Later, Naminé."

When she repeated Riku's words to her cousin an hour or so later the redhead was ecstatic, and she explained how they were going to search the city tomorrow while her and Roxas went out on their date.

"It'll be perfect," She smiled widely, "With you around he'll be too distracted to worry about Xion, which gives us more freedom to roam around the city."

The thought of her friends running around a gigantic metropolis late at night did not sound very safe. "Erm, are you sure this is a good idea?" The blonde asked unsurely, tugging on her hair.

Kairi quirked an eyebrow. "You wholeheartedly agreed to do go through with this in homeroom; why the sudden change?"

"W-well, I know you guys are just trying to help out and that's great and all," The artist was tugging harder on her hair, "But what if you guys get hurt, or worse? I'm gonna feel like I'm at fault for all of th-"

"Don't," Her cousin grabbed her hands and stared straight into her eyes, "You don't have to feel responsible for anything, Nami. Sora loves his brother, and he'd do anything to make sure he's happy. I want to help him help Roxas, and the others are willing to help out too. We all _want_ to do this - it's our own decision, so please don't feel like you're at fault if anything happens to any of us."

"Ugh," Naminé groaned in defeat, "You guys…"

"Ah, ah, ah!" Kairi wagged a disapproving finger, "There's nothing else you can say that'll make us change our minds, so you better stop while you still can. Anyway," She reached for her phone and began scrolling down; she turned her phone around so that Naminé could see what she was looking for, "We have everything planned out, as you can see-" The screen showed a small list of what was to be done tomorrow, "-we've divided the city into sections, and we'll be branching out into groups and searching according to our given section. Pretty cool, eh?"

The blonde pulled on her hair. "Y-yeah, it does, but-"

"And _your_ job is to simply distract Roxas so he won't end up running off in the middle of the night to do a last-minute search."

Her shoulders sagged, convinced that there was no way she was going to convince Kairi that this was _not_ a good idea. "Fine, fine," She muttered as she buried her face in her hands, "You win. You can do the search while I distract him to the best of my ability."

"Which shouldn't be too difficult, if I may add," The redhead grinned mischievously, "'Cause, well, it's _you,_ Nami - your undeniable charm and inevitable clumsiness will be enough to keep him occupied for the night."

"Charm?" The blonde repeated, "What charm?"

Kairi only laughed before getting up to leave her cousin's room.

The hours waned, and Naminé found herself counting down Roxas' arrival. She paced her room with her hands behind her back, wondering when he was going to come and how he was going to alert her; was he going to call her like last time? Was he going to point his flashlight towards her window? Her eyes shot towards her clock radio and realized that it was already quarter to midnight. He should be here soon…

The thought of sleeping next to him sent a warm blush to her cheeks, but at the same time she felt stupid; this was not the first time they slept together - slept together as in slept in the same bed, not…

Her face reddened even more and she buried her face in her hands. Great, maybe Kairi had been rubbing off on her more than she would have liked.

Her phone began to ring, and she dove for it. "Roxas?" She breathed eagerly.

"Open your window." She scrambled towards it and unlatched it, pushing it open; she looked down and grinned at the blond, who was pointing his flashlight up in her direction. She waited as he scaled her wall, and when he climbed into her room she grabbed his wrists and pulled him towards her. He laughed as he hugged her close to his chest, nuzzling his head against her hair. "Mm, missed me?"

She glanced up at him and rolled her eyes. "Oh yes - the few hours I've spent without you were sheer torture." She stood on her tiptoes to kiss his mouth.

When they broke apart she gave him a toothy grin and tugged him towards the bed. He chuckled and shook his head, but he let her guide him over and he sat down on the edge of the mattress and pulled her onto his lap. He sighed as he buried his face into her shoulder, breathing deep. "Well, believe it or not I actually _did_ miss you. Sometimes I feel like there aren't enough hours in the day."

"How the heck can you miss me when you see me everyday? You pick me up every morning and like I told you earlier we're in two classes together - _two!"_ She pressed her hands on the sides of his head and forced him to look at her. "Roxas, you have to keep in mind that I'm not the _only_ person in your life. You have your friends and your family to care for too."

"I know, I know," He frowned as he pressed his cheek against her collarbone, "Ugh, this whole Xion situation is tying all of us up. I feel like we're running in circles."

She threaded her fingers through his hair. "You couldn't even find any clues?"

"No," He groaned, "There's nothing we can find that can give us some sort of a lead except for what Lexaeus told us, and that's not even enough to get us started. I have a feeling something bad happened to her."

"Don't think like that - I'm pretty sure Xion is tough enough to hold out on her own."

"She is, but she can only keep her ground for so long." Roxas sighed again and shook his head. "I need sleep."

Naminé laughed quietly and pecked his temple. "You most definitely do." She crawled off of him and pulled the covers over herself, making sure to look away when he undressed. When he was done he slipped in beside her and wound one arm around her waist, pulling her closer. The artist wrapped her slender arms around his neck and breathed in his scent, smiling against his shoulder. "Mm," She mumbled, already half-asleep, "You're so warm."

His chest rumbled in a low chuckle, and he squeezed her waist. "Goodnight, Naminé." He brushed the hair out of her eyes and kissed her forehead.

When the blonde woke up on Friday morning she found a piece of paper lying next to her, right on top of the pillow where Roxas' head should have been. She rubbed her eyes and reached for the note, scanning the chicken scratch through half-open blue hues:

_I didn't have the heart to wake you - and I thought you were perfect enough with your eyes open.  
I'll be outside to pick you up as usual, and don't forget about tonight!  
Love you._

Her heart leapt to her throat when she read the last two words, and her fingers unconsciously traced over his messy writing as she stepped out of bed. She left the note on her desk before taking a quick shower, and when she emerged from the bathroom fully dressed in her uniform she read it again. Her guilt over not being able to say 'I love you' back bubbled inside of her as she stepped out into the hallway, and she was still mulling over it when she met her cousin in the kitchen.

"You don't know how excited I am for tonight," Kairi squealed over her cereal, "I feel like I'm part of an action movie or something!"

Naminé rolled her eyes as she reached for the milk. "Don't let it go over your head."

"Poor Riku - he's stuck with Sora," The redhead was going over the plans on her cell phone, "He's not gonna get much done."

"Who are you paired up with?"

"Pence," Her cousin shrugged, "He's hardworking, so I think we'll be able to cover our area before it gets too late out."

"Oh," The blonde reached for her own phone, which was vibrating, "Roxas is here."

The girls rushed out of the house and scrambled into the grey BMW. Sora looked a little antsier than usual; he was bouncing up and down on the leather seat and his eyes kept shifting back and forth.

"Er-" Kairi and Naminé tilted their heads at exactly the same time, and Roxas shook his as he circled out of the roundabout.

"I have no idea either," The blond replied, "I found him in the kitchen with three empty mugs of coffee, and he was about to bring a travel mug to school." He briefly turned to look at his brother, who was rolling the window up and down in record time. "He said he needed to be _extra_ alert today."

The girls exchanged nervous glances. "Uh," Kairi poked her head in between Roxas and Sora's seats, "Why do you need all the excess energy, Sora?" Her voice was low and menacing, and the artist pressed a hand to her mouth to suppress her laughter.

"Hm?" The brunet whipped around so quickly he almost smacked Kairi in the face, "What do you mean 'why do I need all the excess energy'? There's a lot to be done today, a lot, a lot!" He pressed down on the window button again, watching the tinted glass roll downwards and grinning a little too widely, "Don't you remember, Kairi? Don't you remember how we-"

"Have a really important Business quiz to write today? How could I forget?" The redhead cut in, though she was speaking through clenched teeth; she turned to face Roxas, who was chuckling to himself, "How the hell could you let him overdose on caffeine?!"

"Sorry," He rubbed the back of his messy hair, "I kind of slept in this morning. I haven't had the chance to sleep through a full night in a week, so I had to get in as many hours as I could."

At least he was better at lying.

The foursome reached the school soon afterwards, and Kairi and Roxas had to hold Sora still in case he decided to spontaneously run off somewhere. They managed to drag him all the way to Business, though his caffeine rush was still at its peak.

"Sora, can you _please_ stop typing? Class hasn't even started yet!" Naminé reached for the brunet's wrists and pried them away from his keyboard; she glanced over her shoulder to stare dismally at her cousin, "I thought he hated coffee!"

"He does," Kairi scratched the side of her head, "But he'll drink it if he has to do something really important - in this case, tonight's search."

The blonde groaned as she tried to pin Sora to his chair. "I hope he crashes soon."

During lunch she walked Roxas, Axel and Demyx out of the student centre, but she managed to pull the pyromaniac aside to speak with him for a moment.

"Hm, what?" Axel muttered distractedly, turning towards the smallest blonde as the other two left for the parking lot.

"Er, I just want to warn you that a few - no, _all_ of my friends are going to be scouring the city tonight," Naminé's eyes dropped to her shoes and she tugged on her hair, "They want to help find Xion too."

The redhead laughed and rubbed the back of his head. "You're kidding me, right?" When the artist did not answer him his face fell. "Oh, so you're not kidding." He pursed his lips and shoved his hands into his pockets. "Well, I guess it's nice of them, but at the same time what they're doing is really dangerous, and if I may so kindly add, kinda stupid."

"Kinda? That's an understatement," Naminé muttered, "I tried talking my cousin out of it but it's no use - they've got their minds set on doing this. They even plan to split up and cover different areas of Deyton!"

The pyromaniac scoffed. "Well, me and the other members are gonna be out tonight too so I guess I'll try and keep an eye on them."

The blonde practically rammed herself into him, throwing her arms around his waist and burying her face into his blazer. "Thank you, thank you, thank you!" She cried happily, glancing up into his confused green stare, "You're the greatest."

"Ah, don't say it too loud - Roxas might hear you." Axel smirked and tousled her hair before turning around and sauntering towards the parking lot.

The afternoon passed by quickly, and before Naminé knew it she was staring dismally into her walk-in closet, wondering what she was supposed to wear for the date Roxas was picking her up for in fifteen minutes.

"When I need you the most you just _have_ to leave on your little search-and-rescue mission," The blonde grumbled as she stormed inside, picking through the various outfits hanging on the racks. Kairi left with Sora and the others for Deyton right after school, which meant she was alone on the outfit dilemma.

Her phone began to ring and she cursed under her breath as she trudged back outside to answer it. "Er, do you mind coming in for a bit? I'm not exactly ready yet."

Roxas let out a long sigh. "Fine." Less than five minutes later there was a knock at her door. "How long does it take for you to pick out something to wear?" He asked half-sternly, half-amusedly as she tugged him over to her closet.

"Forever, if Kairi isn't around." She gestured towards the endless row of clothes. "Help me!"

He ruffled his hair and gave her an apologetic smile. "I'm not exactly the go-to person when it comes to evening wear-"

"What are you talking about?" She snapped, eyeing him from head to toe: he was clad in a very familiar black blazer, black, grey and white checkered button up, black skinny tie, black jeans and black shoes, "You're always the best dressed!"

"Just find something simple, but not too casual." He neared one of the racks containing a few dresses, and flipped through them. Minutes later he spun around to face her with four dresses hanging off her arms: the first was strapless, a light grey with an embroidered hem; the second was powder blue with two-finger-width straps, also with an embroidered hem; the third had a slightly longer skirt, with a dark mustard colour and no straps; the fourth, incidentally, was the turquoise sundress she wore on New Years - the dress she never thought to wear again.

"Huh, that was quick." She mumbled pathetically.

He smirked triumphantly and glanced at the different dresses, examining them closely. "Pick one, and hurry up - we have to be there in forty-five minutes."

"Er," The artist was beginning to feel pressured now; she reached for the grey one but he pulled back, shaking his head. She raised an eyebrow. "What - you said to pick one!"

"I see you in this one the best," He tossed the turquoise one over to her, "It'll bring out your eyes."

She stared at the floaty fabric and clutched it to her chest. "Y-you don't remember where I last wore this, do you?" She asked quietly, glancing up from underneath her eyelashes to look at him with solemn eyes.

He tilted his head to the side a little. "No, I'm afraid I don't."

She frowned. "I wore this at Selphie's New Years party…" Tears stung her eyes and she shook her head furiously, "I mean, I love it and everything but I just can't look at it the same anymore...it's just a reminder of what happened that night..."

Roxas dropped the other dresses and approached her slowly, fastening one arm around her small waist and the other around her shoulders; he pressed his hand to the back of her head to gently guide it towards his shoulder, and he leaned forward to kiss her tears away. "I understand how painful it must be to remember something so horrific," He murmured against her hair, "Even I find it hard to think back sometimes, but you should know that no matter what happens now or later on I will always, _always_ be with you, and I will never let anything or anyone hurt you again."

She sniffled and nodded against his shirt; she pulled away a little to smile up at him and she jostled her hands, which were still holding onto the dress. "I-I think I'm gonna wear this one."

He smiled back and kissed her lips. "We'll give it a new meaning."

Roxas patiently waited in her room while she dressed in the bathroom. She frowned into the mirror as gave her hair one last futile fluff with her hands, and then she pulled on her silver heels and trudged out to meet him. A flush spread to her cheeks when he gave her an adoring smile and gathered her into his arms.

"Radiant, as always." He whispered before leaning down to kiss her; she grinned against his lips and wrapped her arms around his neck to pull him closer. When they broke apart he led her out of her room, down the stairs and into his car. He also remembered to drape his blazer around her shoulders so she would not get cold. He turned on the stereo and the usual rock music began to play as he left the Hinomoto property.

Around twenty minutes later Roxas pulled into a parking lot behind a building that was packed with cars that looked just as expensive as his. Once they stepped out he reached for her hand and guided her back towards the street; she noticed that they were in the upscale part of the city. They passed a few expensive boutiques and designer brand stores and finally stopped at a very tall, tower-like building.

"Huh?" She glanced at it questionably, "Are we watching one of those opera productions where there's a morbidly obese woman in a viking suit?"

Roxas laughed and shook his head. "The restaurant's at the very top." He informed her as they stepped inside the foyer. There was a single elevator that took them all the way up to the very last - the thirtieth, to be exact - floor.

The moment they stepped out they were in front of the entrance to a pricey-looking restaurant; Naminé knew it was fancy because the name of the place was French: _Le Soleil Couchant._

"It stands for 'The Setting Sun'." Roxas chuckled at her perplexed expression as he opened the door for her. There was classical music playing in the background and a snooty-looking man in a tuxedo was waiting for them by a wooden podium with a couple of leather bound menus cradled in his arms.

"Oh," The man's face relaxed the moment Roxas stepped under the light, _"_Bonsoir, Numero Treize - eet ees nice to see you again." His French accent was kind of amusing. "Ah, where ees ze...uzzer members?"

Roxas laughed quietly and shook his head. "Not tonight, Adrien-" He nodded down at the smaller blonde, who was smiling shyly at the maître d', "-it's just us two."

"Ahh…" Adrien gave Roxas a teasing look and he nodded, "Of course, of course," He held out his arm, gesturing towards the hallway behind him, "Right zees way, Monsieur Katsura - I'll make sure to get a special table just for you and your _très belle fille!"_

"Thanks." The blond grinned and squeezed Naminé's hand. "C'mon." They followed Adrien down a hallway that opened up to a grand dining room with crystal chandeliers hanging from a high ceiling; when Naminé glanced upwards she noticed with amazement that the ceiling was covered in a Renaissance-style mural with angels, saints, intricate detail and realistic body proportions. The floors were made of polished marble, every table was covered in white cloth and the cutlery was shiny even from where she was standing. Fancy groups and couples were dressed up to the extreme; it made her feel a little underdressed.

"Almost zere," Adrien led them up a set of stairs covered with red velvety carpet; he opened another door, revealing the roof of the tower-like building. The floor here was cobblestone, and it held a spectacular view of the city. The vines twisted around the black iron railing circling the perimetre were mottled with tiny white flowers, and the sky above them was clear and starry. There was only one table in the centre; it was covered in white cloth like the tables downstairs, and there was a fancy silver candelabra and a glass vase filled with roses between the two glasses. "We only use zees patio for...special occasions."

A hot blush spread over Naminé's cheeks, and Roxas laughed and tousled the back of his hair with his free hand. "Thanks again, Adrien."

The older man gave him a wink. _"_Je t'en pris, Monsieur. You two enjoy yourselves."

"Er," Naminé glanced up at Roxas as he pulled a chair out for her, "What did he call me before he led us up here? He said something about me being your, erm, _tray bell fee,_ or something like that."

The blond chuckled as he took his seat across from her. The flames from the candles were flickering in his dark blue hues. "He called you a beautiful girl - _my_ beautiful girl, to be exact."

Her cheeks darkened and she stared down at her lap. "Wow - what a way to butter someone up."

"No, he was just being truthful." He grinned as her blush worsened. A couple of waiters came up to serve the appetizers, and Naminé had trouble differentiating between the different utensils as usual. The main course came not too long afterward, followed by dessert, and by the time everything was done the blonde was not sure if she had room in her stomach for tomorrow, or the day after that.

"Why must you spoil me so?" She grimaced at him as he pulled her over to the iron railing; the full moon was larger than usual tonight and she awed it at, leaning over the railing a little to look at it more closely, "Wow, you can see everything up here."

"Careful, Naminé." Roxas held her steady by pressing his hands on her hips; he leaned over her shoulder and pecked her cheek. "Spoil you?" He chuckled against her skin and she squirmed at the sensation, "You only deserve the best."

"There you go again with your corniness," She smirked, though her eyes remained on the moon, "Hey, when we first got here that Adrien guy called you _Newmuroh Trez, _or whatever, and he mentioned something about _the other members._ Does that mean-"

"Yes," He admitted sheepishly, "This restaurant is kind of like a usual place for The XIII - Xemnas, or Superior as he likes to be called, often makes dinner reservations here and we always get the roof so we're hidden from everyone else."

"Ooh," She leaned backwards to rest against his chest; his hands moved to her stomach and she laid hers on top, "You really don't have to quit, you know," She murmured, "I never asked you to - no one has."

"I know," He leaned in closer to nuzzle the side of his head against hers, "But I already mentioned why I wanted to before - I found you, the one person who completes me, the one person I've been searching for this whole time. I don't need to look anymore."

"You really have to stop talking like that," She laughed as she turned her head to kiss his lips. When they pulled apart she sighed and returned her attention to the city, marveling at the many lights and sounds coming from below. She leaned forward a little more to stare down at the street, and then something caught her eye. "Huh?"

Roxas leaned over her shoulder to see what she found. "What is it?"

"Isn't that-" Naminé squinted downwards; there was a figure scurrying across the street, clad in all black, "-that's-"

"I don't know, Naminé," Roxas answered almost immediately, though his tone was a bit anxious, "It would be impossible to tell from all the way up here."

"No," She spun around to glare at him, "It's her, I'm sure of it! It makes sense - all black with a hood, running around the city late at night-"

The blond cursed under his breath and ruffled his hair. He moved to stand beside her and leaned forward on the railing; the figure was on the other side of the street now, and it was easy to see that they were walking in a rushed, almost cautious manner. Roxas cursed again and lifted himself off the railing to make his way towards the door. "You stay here - I'm going to get her."

"Uh, no thanks," The artist grabbed his upper arm and he stared at her questionably, "I'm coming with you."

"No!" He argued, his hands clenching into fists, "It's too dangerous, Naminé - I'm not going to-"

"I don't care what you have to say," She glared at him, "With every second you waste in trying to convince me not to come with you Xion's moving farther and farther away. We have to go _now."_

Roxas exhaled sharply, but he reached for her hand anyway. "You are not to leave my side until I tell you otherwise. Do you understand?"

She smirked triumphantly and gave his hand a squeeze. "Yes sir." She pulled him towards the door, but before opening it she glanced at him one more time. "We're in this together, okay?"

He gave her a weary, defeated smile and leaned in to peck her lips. "Together."

_--_

_A/N: The music in Roxas' car was _If You Don't, Don't _by Jimmy Eat World, _Fall _by Something Corporate and _Going Away To College _by blink-182._

_Hm, Naminé doesn't seem to be picking up French very quickly. It's odd because her Japanese-originated name has that French flair when you pronounce it properly - or maybe it's because of the accent, I dunno. To me things with accents are always French, Spanish or just plain fancy._

_Weirdly enough, I got the name for the restaurant from one of Larxene's weapons in 358/2 Days. It's not really a spoiler since it isn't telling you anything, so don't kill me._


	29. Klutz To The Rescue

_A/N: Woooo second last chapter!_

_And hooray to 300+ reviews! You helped reached my personal goal for this story (but that doesn't mean you should stop reviewing...=P), which is beyond awesome. Thank you, thank you, thank you! I shall now give each of you a virtual hug _*insert hug here* _=)_

_--_

**Klutz To The Rescue.**

The blondes hurried down the stairs - Roxas did not forget to slap a large sum of munny on Adrien's podium before leaving - and rushed out into the cold evening air. They scanned left and right, and they stopped on the thin dark figure across the street skulking in the shadows.

"Yeah, that's her all right," Roxas muttered under his breath as he tugged Naminé further down the sidewalk, "If you could recognize her from the top of a tower then it must be."

"And I've only seen her once before." The blonde grinned, feeling quite satisfied with her observatory skills; Roxas glanced over his shoulder to roll his eyes at her and she playfully kicked his leg. "Hey, if it weren't for me we wouldn't be down here!"

"Shh," He hushed her, jerking his head towards the hooded figure; she was glancing left and right, like she was trying to keep an eye out for any followers. After deciding it was clear she slunk into an alleyway. Roxas squeezed the artist's hand and stepped out onto the empty street. "C'mon - make sure to make as _less_ noise as you possibly can."

Naminé stared dismally at her heels. "Er-"

Roxas chuckled and nodded. "Yeah, you're going to have to get rid of them."

"Dammit." She pulled them off, hooked her free index and forefingers underneath the straps and motioned for Roxas to resume running. They dashed across the street and tore down the sidewalk without making any excess noise, and then they waited outside the entrance of the alleyway. The concrete was freezing underneath the blonde's bare feet and she hopped impatiently. "Why are we waiting out here?"

"We need to give her time to walk in a bit more so it'll be easier for us to get through unnoticed." Roxas explained; he waited for a few more seconds, and then stepped into the dark. "Alright, I think we can go in. Don't you dare let go of my hand."

"Why, scared of the dark?" She whispered teasingly; she could almost hear his eyes rolling. She was a little wary of stepping around barefoot in an alleyway, and when she felt the cold sting of an icy cold puddle rippling around her toes her suspicions were confirmed. She bit her tongue, however, and pressed on; she wanted to come, and she somehow managed to convince Roxas to bring her along so she could not complain now.

It felt like they had been walking for a very long time, maybe almost half an hour to forty-five minutes. Finally her eyes found the silvery stream of the moonlight hitting the walls and the floors; the alleyway had opened up, revealing a large, abandoned warehouse. They had managed to cut through a few districts of the city, all the way from the ritzy area to the industrial.

"Wow," Naminé dropped her sandals to the side, pushing them against the brick wall with one foot and tugged on her hair, "I didn't think we'd get this far with one shortcut."

Roxas gently pushed her against the wall, back into the shadows so they would not be seen. The hooded figure was stepping slowly towards the warehouse, glancing upwards at the broken windows and rusty metal walls. Xion finally pulled off her hood, revealing short, layered black hair.

"See," The blonde nudged the other with her elbow, "I told you."

"Hush, Naminé." Roxas squinted at the dark-haired girl, who seemed to be just standing outside of the warehouse with no intention of doing anything else. "What is she doing?" He whispered, though it sounded like he was directing it towards himself.

Suddenly there was the loud, ear-grating noise of metal grinding against metal; the doors to the warehouse were opening. Roxas and Naminé leaned forward a little to see who was walking out to meet Xion, and they both gasped.

Rai and Fuu had stepped out, and they were exchanging a few words with The XIII's newest member. After a few more minutes of conversation Rai placed his large hand on Xion's back and pushed her into the warehouse. The thick metal doors screeched again as they closed.

"What the hell-" Roxas shook his head and stepped out of the shadows, his eyes wide in disbelief, "-what does Seifer want with Xion?"

Naminé was leaning against the brick wall, her face as shocked as his. "I-I don't know," She tugged on her hair, "But...if Seifer's involved it means it can't be anything good."

"My thoughts exactly." Roxas pulled his cell phone out of his pocket and hastily dialed his best friend's number. "I found XIV. No, actually she just happened to be running around on the street when we were having dinner and we decided to follow her." His eyes darted over to Naminé for a few second and she flushed. "I know, I know, but you know how stubborn she is." He ignored her sharp, frustrated exhale and turned his back on her. "Well she cut through an alleyway that somehow led us to this old warehouse - what? Alright, I'll see you soon then. We'll be waiting by the doors."

While Roxas was on the phone with Axel Naminé had managed to sneak in a quick text message to Kairi, informing her cousin of her whereabouts. She hid her phone behind her back as soon as the blond turned back around to face her. "Axel's coming with the rest of The XIII. When they're all here I'm bringing you straight home."

"Didn't I just tell you that we were in this together?" She growled, "I'm not leaving, Roxas. I want to make sure Xion's okay," Her eyes lowered to her bare feet, "A-and I want to make sure you're okay too."

"Naminé," He groaned, reaching for her and pulling her close to his chest; she managed to sneakily stuff her phone back into her clutch purse before hugging him back, "I'll be fine, you don't have to worry about me. We're just going to slip in, get Xion and then slip out. Nothing else."

"I'm still not going anywhere." Her voice was muffled against his checkered shirt, and she could not help but smirk when she heard him groan again. "I'm staying here until everything is solved."

"Yo!" Both blondes spun around to see Axel jogging towards them with Demyx, Larxene, Zexion and a bunch of other strangers in tow. The redhead skidded to a stop just a few feet in front of the couple and rubbed the underside of his nose with an index finger. "So can someone _please_ enlighten me on why Xion's inside that hunk of junk?"

"Rai and Fuu led her inside," Roxas explained in a strained tone, and his fellow gang members gasped in shock, "Which means Seifer's been behind this all along."

"Cheeky bastard," A tall man with a face covered in scars, an eyepatch and long black hair tied into a ponytail stepped out of the crowd, "Thinks he can benefit from snatching away our newest member...huh, as if!"

"Well, there's only one way to find out," Larxene simpered, "We've got to storm in and ask the idiot what he wants."

"Is she your girl, Roxas?" A man with blond hair and a blond beard stepped towards the couple and leaned in; his voice was streaked with an English accent, "Hm, he wasn't lying about her, wasn't he? The bloke's got himself a tidy one, all right."

The artist gulped as the shadows behind Axel and the blond man chuckled; she stepped away from Roxas a little to introduce herself properly. "Er, I'm Naminé."

The blond man smiled and reached for her hand; her eyes widened when he kissed her knuckles delicately. "So I've heard," He said suavely, "The name's Luxord - always a pleasure to meet such a lovely lass like you, Naminé."

"And I'm Xigbar." The man with the eyepatch thumped a fist to his chest and gave her a friendly grin.

"And my name's Vexen!" Cried a voice from the back.

The blonde smiled. "It's nice to finally meet all of you." She waved and giggled when everyone in the group except for Axel, Larxene, Demyx and Zexion gave the artist distracted smiles and waved back.

"Alright," Roxas pulled Naminé back towards him and laced his fingers with hers, "Enough distractions. We need to figure out how we're getting inside."

"Easy," Axel smirked and gestured towards the warehouse, "The place is practically falling apart - just 'cause we can't get in through the front doesn't mean there won't be some kind of detour. There's probably a broken window or a loose part of the wall we can sneak through - Seifer's too stupid to fully check the place for any loopholes."

"But you know Seifer," The one named Vexen piped up, "He'll most likely have the area heavily guarded."

"Yeah, 'cause he's a wuss like that." Larxene muttered, and the rest of The XIII chortled in response.

"Alright, I guess we'll just have to split up and search for any kind of secret entrance." Roxas squeezed Naminé's hand and nodded towards his best friend. "Axel, you'll be coming with Naminé and I. The rest of you divide into twos or threes."

The group did what they were told; Axel grinned deviously as he skipped alongside the blondes. "I never knew you were such a charmer, Naminé."

She flushed and stared down at her toes. "I didn't do anything…"

"Exactly - that's when you _know _you're charming; all you had to do was smile and you've got them at your feet!"

"Axel…" Roxas growled through clenched teeth, and his best friend snickered.

"What? Accept the fact that your girl's popular with the guys! Isn't it a good thing that your friends are already on good terms with her?" The pyromaniac rolled his eyes and stuffed his hands into his pockets, "Geez…"

The threesome stopped in front of a pile of large metal containers, the type that would be found on cargo ships. There were some wooden pallets by the side. "C'mon," Roxas tugged the artist over to the pallets and helped her onto them, "Can you climb?"

"I-I think so." Naminé grabbed the edge of the metal cargo container with her small hands and Roxas gave her a boost, helping her hoist herself onto the top. She then spun around and helped the boys. "What are we doing?"

"Looking for an entrance, of course." Axel hopped onto the next container, the one closest to the warehouse wall. There was an air vent with a dented grill, and he kicked it inwards with ease. "See? Told you it wouldn't be hard to find a way in."

"I don't think any of us will be able to fit," Roxas knelt in front of it and peered inside; Naminé could smell stale air, dust, rusty metal and wood chips, "Only a small child would be able to navigate through these air ducts."

"Or someone really thin." The redhead slowly turned towards the smallest blonde, but Roxas vehemently shook his head.

"Axel, I know what you're thinking and I'm _not_ going through with it."

"No," Naminé stepped forward, "He's right - I'm the only one who can fit through there. Let me do it."

"This is too dangerous," Roxas reached for her hands, "I don't want you getting in a situation where you can get hurt, or worse. I won't be able to live knowing I could've prevented that."

"You're not my mom, Roxas," She countered, and she could not help but smirk when Axel snickered behind her, "I am fully aware of the danger I'll be putting myself through, and it's not like you haven't done worse things. I know you have."

"That's different."

"No it isn't-" She raised her hands to his face and pulled him closer so that their foreheads touched, "-I'll be fine, trust me."

He groaned, but he nodded against her and quickly kissed her lips. "If anything happens please don't try to be a hero. Just run, run out of there as fast as you can; I don't care how you escape - just get out of there. Do you hear me?"

The thought of 'anything' happening kind of cracked her confidence a little but she nodded and kissed him back. "Don't worry, I will." She released her hold on him and knelt in front of the air vent, sucking in a large breath.

She felt Axel's hand messing up her hair. "You're tougher than I thought." She grinned up at him and he grinned back. "Go get 'em."

"Wait," She opened her clutch purse, plucked out her phone and threw the small bag into the redhead's unsuspecting hands. "Hold that for me, will you?" When he nodded she turned back towards the vent. "Here goes nothing." She gulped and crawled into the chilly air vent, coughing a little at the less-than-pleasant odour stemming from somewhere inside of the warehouse. The musty stink made her gag and her eyes water; she resorted to breathing through her mouth. She could feel the dust caking onto her skin and dress but she pressed on, crawling and twisting through the air duct maze.

She eventually reached another grill in the floor, but when she peered down she almost shrieked; she was very high off the ground, so high that she could see nearly everything in the warehouse. The place was littered with the same metal cargo containers from outside, and Vexen's assumption was spot-on: there were men everywhere.

She flipped her phone open and searched for Roxas' name. "Lots...of guys guarding...warehouse…" She muttered out her words as she punched them into her phone, "Still...looking for Xion and...Seifer." She sent it and snapped her phone shut to resume her crawling.

The blonde eventually hit a fork in the road, and she groaned. "Er," She hesitated, glancing at each passageway; both looked equally dark and foreboding, "Eeny, meeny, miney mo…" She settled on the right passageway and crawled towards it, hoping it was not leading towards the furnace or some kind of incinerator.

After ten minutes of some more crawling through dusty, dirty vents she found another grill below her, but this one was a bit more interesting than the last: it seemed that Naminé was just a few feet above what looked like an office.

"So," Seifer's deep voice boomed from somewhere in the corner, and the blonde lowered her face towards the vent so she could see him; he was pacing the far end of the office with his hands behind his back and Xion was fidgeting in a chair in front of him with her hands on her lap, "Remind me why you're here again?"

"I overheard your plans while I was out on a job," The black-haired girl spat, "Your cronies aren't exactly the brightest people."

Seifer shot her a dirty look; the blonde could not really see because she was looking at everything from a birds' eye view, but she could tell by his body language. "It doesn't seem that you XIII idiots are any brighter - look at you, coming here all by yourself with no plan of action...how does that make you any better?"

"You _know_ why I came here on my own, Seifer," Xion growled, but then added in a much lower, less-confident voice, "So there's no use repeating information."

"Oh, right," Seifer threw his head back in a bout of malicious laughter; events from New Years flashed through Naminé's head and she bit her bottom lip so she could focus on the conversation below, "You know, you're very unselfish for someone in a situation such as yours. I'm pretty sure you know just as well as I do that life out here in the city is pretty tough-" He reached forward to tilt her chin upwards with his index finger and the familiar repulsive, creepy-crawly feeling coursed through the blonde's body, "-so tough, in fact, that it's hard to trust anyone but yourself. Isn't that right?"

Xion made a strained noise but did not answer.

"Sometimes it's even hard to trust the people you spend time with almost every day - like the people in your own gang!" Seifer spread his arms wide and laughed again, "So to see you coming all the way here for the safety of someone else is kind of surprising - staggering, almost!" He bent over, and his face was so close to the dark-haired girl's it made Naminé's stomach churn, "And out of all people it had to be the _one_ person I despise most, the one person who gave me all of this." He was pointing to something on his face, but from the blonde's point of view it was impossible to see.

"H-he's finally got everything going for him," Xion's voice was cracking, like she was on the verge of tears, "He doesn't need you to screw it up."

"Oh?" Seifer turned around swiftly and began to pace again, "So he's finally living the life he's been working so hard for, eh? If everything's so perfect why aren't _you_ in any of it?"

"I…" The dark-haired girl shook her head, unable to finish her sentence. For some reason Naminé's chest began to ache and she clutched at it subconsciously.

"Hm," The young man who made the blonde's New Years a living hell placed his hands behind his back and leaned into Xion's face once more; Naminé could almost feel his breath fanning her skin, "So he's still with that cute blonde, eh?" When Xion did not answer he chuckled darkly, "And if my assumptions are right, you wished he wasn't."

Guilt stabbed into the artist like thousands of tiny icicles, cold and painful. She could feel the tears brimming her eyes as she watched Xion writhe uncomfortably in her chair, wringing her hands and turning her head so she would not have to look into Seifer's eyes.

"Mm, your lack of an answer confirms everything." He leaned back and smirked triumphantly. "You're a very, _very_ unselfish person, Xion - you don't see a lot of people like you anymore." He chuckled and traced her jawline with an index finger, and Naminé could not help but shiver for her. "What to do with you, what to do…"

"I don't care," Xion shook her head, her eyes cast to her shoes, "Do whatever you want. Just...just leave Roxas alone. Please."

"I don't know if I can do that," Seifer shrugged his shoulders, "I mean, he's been a nuisance for a very long time-"

There was a knock on the door. "The XIII have been spotted outside," Reported a serious female voice, "And by the looks of it all of them are here."

"Ugh," Seifer shook his head and turned towards the door, "Alright, I'll be there in a second." He quickly stepped towards the desk by Xion's chair and pulled out two black pieces of plastic - disposable handcuffs. He fastened them around the raven-haired girl's wrists and ankles, and from the way she was grimacing in pain it looked like he had strapped them on a little too tight. "You stay right here - I'll take care of your friends for you, and then I'll come back to finish you off." He left the office in a swift stride; the door clicked as he locked it.

The moment Seifer disappeared Xion began to wriggle in her bonds, grunting and straining her limbs, but with every movement the thick bands of plastic only tightened and her pained cries would increase in volume. Naminé's heart began to quicken and she reached for the metal grill, trying to pull it off. She had caused enough trouble for the dark-haired girl, and she was not planning on giving her any more.

Xion could hear Naminé rattling from above and she briefly stopped struggling to glance towards the ceiling. "...Hello?" She called unsurely, uncertain if she was not hearing things.

"Er," Naminé stuttered through the grill, "Hi."

The darker-haired girl raised an eyebrow. "Who are you?"

Right on cue the grill beneath the blonde groaned as it bent under her weight and it fell through, crashing towards the dusty linoleum floor. Unfortunately Naminé was sent hurtling with it; she moaned in pain and rubbed her bottom as she staggered to her feet, and once the dust cleared she gave Xion a nervous smile and a small wave. "Erm, I'm Naminé."

Xion's bright blue eyes widened and the blonde fidgeted nervously under her stare. "Naminé? Wh...what are you doing here?"

The blonde shook out of her anxiousness and shuffled over to the desk, looking for anything sharp. "As much as I'd love to stop and chat we don't exactly have the time right now," She grinned victoriously when she found an orange exacto knife lying underneath a few loose leaves of paper, "Aha!" She turned around to show Xion what she found, and the black-haired girl smiled and held out her wrists. Naminé cut through the bonds with ease, and she tossed the knife to the side when she was finished. "Better?"

The raven-haired girl smiled as she stood up, gingerly rubbing her wrists and rotating her ankles. "Yes, a lot better."

There was a hint of sadness in her expression, and guilt tore through the blonde once more. "Xion," She tugged on her hair as she wracked her brain for proper words, "I...I'm really sorry for everything that's happened to you - I-I know that most of it's my fault, and-"

She was cut off when Xion leaped into her arms in an unexpected but comforting hug. "You have nothing to be sorry for, Naminé," She murmured against her shoulder, "So please, don't feel guilty." She pulled back and smiled, though there were a few tears sparkling in her eyes. Naminé could feel her eyes stinging too, but she smiled her biggest for her anyway.

A loud banging noise caused their heads to turn; the door was kicked open, revealing an exhausted and frustrated-looking Seifer. Naminé's eyes widened at the drastic changes to his face; his skin was mottled with ugly, disfiguring scars, and his right eyelid was drooping halfway. Did Roxas do all of that?

"What the-" He eyed the two girls, who were holding onto each other for dear life, "-how the hell did you end up here?" He eyed the mess on the floor, and then tilted his head upwards towards the ceiling. "Huh, looks like I've hit the jackpot today." He returned his attention to the girls, particularly Naminé, and smirked. "It's been awhile."

"Don't touch her," Xion growled, stepping in front of the blonde. She charged towards Seifer and raised a fist to knock him in the jaw, but he danced out of the way and kneed her in the gut. Naminé's eyes widened as she watched him grab the dark-haired girl by the scruff of her neck and carelessly toss her against the wall. Xion groaned, but she straightened up and swung her fist again; she successfully hit him this time, hitting him straight in the face, and he stumbled backwards with his hands over his nose. Blood was seeping out in between his fingers.

"You-" He stuttered, his eyes screwed up with rage, "-you little-" He grabbed her arm so quickly she did not have time to react and twisted it around her back; the bone snapped sickeningly and Xion's eyes widened as she let out an ear-piercing scream. Seifer simpered malignly as he watched her sink to her knees, her eyes shiny with tears of pain. He bent his knee and kicked her sharply, right underneath her chin, and he laughed as she sailed backwards against the wall.

Naminé watched the entire fight with her hands pressed to her mouth; she tried to scream or call for help but her throat was constricted, too scared to make a noise. She backed against the wall as Seifer approached her; he licked his lips and cracked his knuckles as he ran her up and down with his eyes. "You know, I've been waiting for this," He sneered as she whimpered helplessly, "I was wondering when I was going to finally have the chance to finish what I've started on New Years, but after what happened your little boyfriend's been more protective of you lately."

The blonde could feel her erratic pulse thudding in her ears; she frantically searched for anything nearby that would help, but there was nothing. There were noises and voices coming from outside the door; it sounded like the rest of The XIII had managed to find their way inside. Seifer chuckled and pressed his rough hands on her shoulders, forcing her painfully against the wall. "You're stuck," He licked his lips again, and she gulped, "And your Roxas is too preoccupied to help you - just like last time."

Her pale blue eyes narrowed as she gathered what little courage she had, and her fierce expression caught him by surprise. "I don't need his help." She swung her leg upwards, kicking him in an area most, if not all men prefer not to be kicked in, and she smirked as she watched him stumble backwards, his hands inching towards his groin and his eyes watering. He crumpled onto the floor, coughing violently, and she scrambled over to the unconscious girl by the wall.

"Xion, Xion," Naminé placed a hand on her shoulder, pushing her lightly; the dark-haired girl groaned in pain and tried to roll over to face the blonde, but her broken arm prevented her from doing so. The artist forced the lump down her throat and threw the unbroken arm around her shoulders, helping the other girl to her feet, "Urgh - c'mon, we have to get you out of here." She dragged her half-conscious companion out of the small office and stared shockingly at the fight going on around them; various members of The XIII were scattered throughout the large warehouse, taking on at least three to five members of Seifer's gang at a time. They were severely outnumbered, and to make things worse Roxas was nowhere to be found.

"Ngh…" Xion groaned; she was nodding towards something. Before Naminé had a chance to react there was another loud bang, but it was not from Seifer kicking down a door.

It just so happened that there was a barrel of gasoline by the stairs the girls were standing on, and somehow it came in contact with something flammable (the blonde had a vague idea on who was responsible). The explosion ripped through the metal staircase, and the impact was so great it sent both girls flying into the air and onto the solid concrete floor.

The moment Naminé landed she felt a sharp, stabbing pain in her ribcage; something must have broke. She ignored the pain, however, and crawled through the inferno, her vision partially red from the blood trickling down her forehead.

"X-Xion…" She croaked helplessly; there were bouts of flame spewing in her face and the throbbing pain in her head and chest made it almost impossible to concentrate. She struggled as she shifted to a crouching position, thankful that her legs were still intact. She rose to full height and squinted through the blaze, trying to find Xion or anybody that could help out but her eyes were failing her for some reason - everything was slowly but surely fading into a solid, bloody red.

She blundered through the wreckage as she searched for any living being, but she seemed to be the only one left in the warehouse. After a few minutes of walking her legs gave way and she tumbled back onto the floor, screaming when her cracked ribs came in contact with the hard concrete. Tears sprang into her eyes as she fruitlessly clawed the floor, dragging herself across the flames. Her strength was draining, she could feel it - where was Xion? Where was Roxas? With every beat of her heart there was an accompanying ache against her chest, and she groaned as she rolled over on her back, staring at the high, rusty ceiling.

This was it, was it not? Was this how everything was going to end?

She never pictured it like this. She thought she was going to live a nice, uneventful life with ordinary friends in an ordinary neighbourhood. She thought she would die an old lady, nice and warm in her bed and surrounded by her closest friends and family. Maybe Axel and Demyx would be there. Maybe Kairi and Sora would have been married. Maybe her and Roxas…

The thought brought a new ache to her insides. All those months of waiting, anticipating, hurting...it was all just a waste.

The flames flickered and cackled around her; they sounded like they were inching closer. Even if she could move there was nowhere else to go - she was completely surrounded by impassable flame.

More tears made their way down her dirtied face and she let out a shaky, pained sigh; she just wanted everything to end already. She just wanted everything to fade to black. Where was that light she was supposed to chase? She tried to picture herself the way she was now: lying helplessly in the middle of an abandoned, dilapidated, burning warehouse with cracked ribs, some kind of head injury, failing eyesight, a dirty dress and no shoes. She knew she was covered head to toe in filth; she could feel the grime and sweat sticking to her skin.

Her eyelids drooped halfway, and the pain was beginning to ebb away little by little. Despite her haggard appearance and rapidly depleting energy she managed to put a wide, calm smile on her face; at least this way Xion will be happy with-

"Naminé!" Screamed a voice, snapping her right back into full consciousness.

Huh, someone up there must be working in her favour...

The voice was indeed familiar but now that she was awake the pain had come back full force, and it was so overwhelming it was hard to put the voice to a face.

"Naminé-" She blinked rapidly and found the faintest outline of Riku hovering over her. He slipped his arms around her shoulders and legs and lifted her gingerly, "-what the hell happened to you?"

"E-explosion-" She wheezed through the spasms of pain, "-ribs…" She placed one hand over her chest and exhaled noisily; she could taste blood. "W-where's Xi-"

"We got her, don't worry. Don't talk if it hurts too much," He shouted against the roaring flames, "Let's get you out first!"

The smoke and hazy heat made it even more difficult to breathe; Naminé's breaths came out as ragged and raspy as Riku charged through the fire. The ceiling beams creaked and groaned dangerously above their heads; the flames were beginning to engulf the warehouse's foundations.

"Almost there," Riku grunted; the blonde craned her neck to stare forward; through her blood-soaked vision she could see some kind of opening in the wall. He jumped through the last wall of flames and Naminé would have sighed in relief if her chest did not feel like it was going to cave in soon.

The chilly night air swept over her body, relieving her of the fiery temperature of the warehouse. Her sore lungs soaked in as much as it could, and she ignored the throbbing in her ribcage as she took a few deep breaths.

"Naminé," She heard Kairi and Sora's frantic voices approaching her as Riku gently laid her down on a set of wooden pallets; she found a trace of Kairi's pale blue eyes and scarlet hair hovering over her, and she could feel her cool touch skimming across the abrasion on her head, "Oh God, Nami-"

"I-I'm fine," The blonde coughed, her eyes shifting around as she searched for her cousin's face; the broken veins in her eyes caused her to see red all over. She felt the blood bubbling against the back of her neck and she turned her head to spit it out on the pavement, "S...Sora-a-" She extended one arm, searching for the brunet; she felt his hand against hers and she forced her vocals to work, "Your...y-your br-"

"He hasn't come out yet," She heard the tears weighing down on Sora's voice, "Riku...Riku just went back in to look for him, and I think Axel went in too. I should be in there instead…"

"Are you crazy?" Kairi's voice bled into her ears, "There's no way-"

"Kairi, Roxas is my brother. I have to look for him." She felt Sora's hand leave hers, but it was immediately replaced with the redhead's. The brunet's quick footsteps were growing quieter as he ran farther away from her, towards the burning warehouse.

"Sora!" Kairi's voice was watery with tears, but her hand did not leave the blonde's. "Ugh, this is horrible-"

"How is she?" Asked a somewhat familiar voice - Vexen? She strained her blood-filled vision and found the hint of an adult's face peering into hers. "Hm, this looks pretty bad."

Kairi's grip on Naminé's hand tightened considerably. "Bad?" She scoffed, "That's an understatement."

"Naminé," Called the voice, and she turned her head in the direction where she thought it was coming from, "At least she's still conscious. It doesn't look like she can see me, though - at least not all of me."

_"What?!"_ The redhead shrieked, "What do you mean - has she, has she gone-"

"No, it's the veins in her eyes. They're broken, probably due to the intense heat. It's nothing serious; it's almost like having pink eye - they'll repair themselves once she gets some rest and medication." She felt a pair of hands pushing gently against her chest, and she groaned. "She has a couple broken ribs, it seems-" The hands moved to her head, which was still bleeding and pounding uncontrollably, "-and she's taken a hard hit to the head...she might have a concussion."

Naminé writhed around a little, trying to show her cousin and Vexen - at least she thought it was Vexen - that she was growing impatient. Where was Roxas? Was he out yet? Did Riku, Axel and Sora find him? She wanted so badly to just shout out her questions, but her chest, it hurt so much, and her vocal chords felt like they were going to snap.

"Nami, stop moving around so much," Kairi squeezed her hand, "I know it hurts, but you have to wait just a little longer, okay? We're gonna get you help, I promise!"

She did not care if she never got any help - _where was Roxas?_

The warehouse let out a loud groan, and there was the loud banging noise of something large falling from the ceiling and onto the concrete floor. Gasps were heard from all around.

"Crap, the place is falling apart!" That sounded like Demyx.

"Where are they?" Olette?

"I dunno, but they better get out soon - it looks like time's running out!" Probably some member of The XIII.

"Axel, Riku and Sora better hurry their asses out of there," She heard her cousin mutter, "And Roxas better be with them too…"

Naminé weakly squeezed Kairi's hand, hoping she would get the message.

"Oh, Nami - they'll be alright, all of them," The redhead assured her, "And Roxas - he'll be okay. Just hold on - I'm pretty sure he wants to see you. Don't give up, please - use all of your strength to stay awake. Don't you dare leave me!" She could feel her cousin's tears dripping onto her fingers, "Roxas wouldn't like it very much if you left him too!"

Right, she had to stay awake. For Kairi, for Roxas, for everyone.

She coughed out some more blood, and she felt Kairi's other hand against her cheek, turning her head gently to the side so she could spit it out. "Keep your head like that," She heard her gentle, yet apprehensive voice, "That way you won't choke on anything that comes up."

The damaged artist exhaled shakily and tried to steady her fluttering pulse, but it was no use; how could she calm down when Xion was somewhere out there with a broken arm? How could she relax when three of her best friends were still inside the warehouse? How could she wind down when Roxas was nowhere to be found?

And then, out of the blue, her prayers were answered a second time.

"Where is she?" Cried a voice Naminé had been waiting all this time to hear, "Vexen, Xaldin, please - _where is she?!"_

"Over here!" Kairi hollered and gently dropped her cousin's hand; the sound of hurried footsteps thudded in their direction and suddenly a very warm pair of hands carefully pressed themselves against the sides of the blonde's injured head.

"Oh, Naminé," Roxas' voice was a couple of octaves higher than usual and heavy with unshed tears, "God - Naminé, can you hear me? Please tell me you can hear me…"

"Ngh…" She groaned as she forced her voice to work, and she lifted her arms, searching for him; his hands found hers and she smiled slightly at the sensation of their fingers intertwining.

She felt his fingers brushing the hair out of her face and his lips against her forehead for a split second; he laughed in relief, though she could hear the tears in his voice. "Thank God - stay strong for me, okay? Don't you dare give up now." She felt his hands leave hers, but almost immediately afterward he scooped her into his arms. "Try and rest," He murmured, kissing her forehead again, "We're going to get you some help. Remember to stay strong."

Naminé nodded weakly against his chest, and she breathed in deep despite the harrowing pain swirling around inside of her. Her heartbeat hammered wildly against her shattered ribcage and she turned her head away from him to cough, trying not to get any blood on his clothes. It was getting harder to stay awake now; her eyelids drooped halfway, but she fought to prevent them from closing completely. She could hear voices, both familiar and unfamiliar, whirling around her but she could not focus on any of them. She blinked furiously but all she could see was red and the unclear outlines of people moving.

She wondered where Xion was and if she was okay. Was anybody else hurt? Did Seifer manage to escape? Why was she even thinking about him in the first place?

The red was beginning to darken into an inky, infinite black and her limbs felt like blocks of lead. Her heartbeat slowed down significantly, and she was thankful that she could no longer hear it pounding in her ears. Her eyelids felt so, so heavy...

"Naminé," Roxas called out to her, but she was already out cold.

--

_A/N: When Naminé gives up and rolls on her back, staring at the ceiling and wondering if this was how everything was going to end - that part was written with the help of the song _Jesus Christ _by Brand New._


	30. The Wait Is Now Over

_A/N: And here we are at the last chapter! Many thanks to all of you who have read, reviewed and supported this story - you peeps are rad!_

_I hope to see you all when the rewrite of _Shine _and the midquel featuring Axel (and perhaps a few others) posted!_

_Until then I hope you enjoyed this story, and have fun reading the last chapter!_

_--_

**The Wait Is Now Over.**

She did not know how long she had been knocked out for, but when she roused out of unconsciousness everything was discombobulated and unreal.

Naminé's eyes fluttered half-open, only to be greeted with a painful white glare; she groaned and shook her head a little, trying to rid her eyes of the sting, but it never faded away.

_"-always there, don't forget that." _...Axel?

_"I'll let her know." _That was definitely Roxas.

"Ngh…" She forced her eyes open and grimaced as the glare hit her full force; she waited a few minutes for her vision to focus, and when everything settled down she realized she was sitting in a hospital bed, dressed in a thin, powder blue hospital gown. Her right arm was hooked up to an IV; a bag of blood was hanging overhead. She sniffed and realized there were tubes sticking out of her nose; she could feel them running all the way down her throat. Her head felt tight for some reason, and she reached upwards and gasped when she felt a few layers of bandages wrapped around it. She then ran her fingers over her abdomen; there were bandages underneath her clothes, she could feel it. The pain in her ribs and head had somehow died down into a tolerable throbbing, and she felt very drowsy for some reason.

"Naminé," She slowly turned her head and smiled when she found Roxas sitting by her bedside; his face, neck and arms were mottled with a few small bandages, his hair was messier than usual, his clothes were wrinkled and dotted with blood and his eyes were tired but other than that he looked very happy. He left his chair to sit on the edge of her bed, and he leaned in to softly kiss her mouth. When they pulled apart he rested his forehead against hers and gingerly combed his fingers through her hair, "How are you feeling?"

"R-really tired," She answered thickly, trying to ignore the awkward feeling of the tubes taking up space at the back of her throat, "And…" Her brow scrunched together as she tried to gather her thoughts, "Wait, what happened after the fire? And is everyone else okay?"

"The entire warehouse collapsed," Roxas frowned, "But we were at the hospital by the time that happened so no one was seriously hurt - in fact, you and Xion were the only ones who actually _got_ hurt." He chuckled and shook his head. "For some reason I'm not surprised."

"Oh!" Naminé's eyes lit up at the mention of the dark-haired girl, "How is she? Is she-"

"She's fine, Naminé," He assured her, "She got treatment for her arm, and she has a few bruises and scrapes here and there but other than that she's fine - she's walking around right now, actually. You, on the other hand," He shook his head, "Are going to need a little more recovery time."

"That's good to hear," The artist sighed in relief, "But what about the others - Kairi, Riku, Axel, your brother?"

"They're asleep in the lounge - all of them are, including Olette and the others," Roxas explained with a small smile on his face, "They didn't want to leave until they knew you were going to be okay."

She quirked an eyebrow at him. "You should be sleeping with them - you look exhausted."

He shook his head and leaned in to bury his face into her neck; he breathed in deep and wound an arm around her waist, careful not to press too hard on her ribs. "I couldn't sleep even if I tried," He murmured against her neck, "I knew I wouldn't be able to rest until I see you wake up." He shook his head and his hair tickled her skin. "I was so close to losing you, Naminé...you don't know how scared I was when I saw you on the floor outside of the warehouse; you were barely breathing, and you were trembling so much..."

Guilt wrought her insides and she hugged him close to her, ignoring the dull aching in her ribcage. She hushed him as she pulled her fingers through his hair. "It's okay, Roxas - I'm okay now, there's nothing to be afraid of." She kissed the side of his head and rocked him gently, closing her eyes against his dark blond spikes.

There were three words she wanted to say to him right now but she was not sure if had the courage to do it. She then thought about sneaking through a dark alleyway with no shoes, crawling through a dusty air vent maze, falling out of said vent, kicking Seifer in the groin and the explosion she miraculously survived: this should be nothing!

"I…I love you," She stuttered, but when the words finally came out an invisible weight had been lifted off her shoulders. She grinned triumphantly when she realized that it was not so hard to say it after all. "I love you," She said with a little more enthusiasm; she took his face in her hands and stared straight into his eyes, "I love you, I love you, I love you!"

He gazed into her eyes with an emotion so powerful, so passionate she could not find a proper word to describe it. His smile was so bright she almost forgot how white the room was. "I love you too, Naminé," He whispered, "And I will always love you, no matter what happens."

She was filled with an unmistakable warmth, and her smile widened as he moved in to capture her lips again. A soft giggle escaped her lips as he moved in to nuzzle his head against her neck, and she closed her eyes against his hair. "Okay," She whispered tenderly, "Now that you know that I'm going to live can you _please_ get some sleep?"

"Yes ma'am." He swung his legs onto the bed, and she shifted over a little to make room for him. Roxas threw one arm around her stomach and the other around her shoulders, gently easing her body against his.

She smiled and kissed his forehead as she reached for his hair again. "'Night, Roxas."

"Actually, it's midday," He chuckled against her skin, and her eyes widened; she glanced towards the window and gaped at the bright stream of sunlight peeking in between the white shutters, "You were out for a really long time."

"Erm, exactly how long was I out for? If the thing only happened last night it wouldn't be v-"

"A day and a half." She felt his lips curve into a smirk against her neck.

_"WHAT?!" _Naminé pushed away to stare at him incredulously, "How the hell was I unconscious for a freaking day and a half?!" She coughed violently afterwards; speaking loudly made the tubes in her throat jerk around a little.

"Shh, you're going to wake everybody!" He hissed, and she flushed and pulled him in for another hug, "Nobody really knows why you were asleep for so long," He chuckled, "The doctors didn't even put that much morphine. Oh well, it doesn't matter - you needed your rest."

"I guess," She shook her head, still trying to accept the fact that she had wasted a day and a half, "It was kinda scary when I couldn't see."

"I can imagine," He agreed, "But the only way you could've been blinded like that was if you were _right_ by the explosion…"

"I was above it, actually," The blonde muttered, "Xion and I were on the stairs, and I think the barrel was right below us."

"I am going to _kill_ Axel." Roxas growled.

"I _knew_ he was responsible!" She laughed, "Oh, don't hurt him, Roxas - I'm pretty sure he has his reasons."

"He does, but they're not good enough." He yawned and nestled closer to her; she felt his eyelashes tickle her skin as his eyes closed. "Huh, I feel really sleepy all of a sudden."

"It's probably because you've been up for more than twenty-four hours," She smirked; she massaged his scalp and kissed the side of his head, "Sleep now, Roxas."

"Mm," He mumbled tiredly; his lips puckered against her collarbone in a swift kiss, "Love you."

She laughed quietly and kissed him again. "Love you too." She pressed her cheek against his forehead and sighed contently, continuing to thread her fingers through his soft spikes. The artist began to hum softly, singing the same song he sang to her all those months ago - their song. He relaxed in her arms, muttering something incoherent and cuddling closer to her body. A warm glow swelled up inside of her, and her smile widened as she bent over to kiss his head for the fourth time.

There was a shy knock at the door. Naminé glanced upwards to see a nervous-looking Xion standing by the doorway; her arm was confined to a thick cast, and it was supported by a sling. There were a few scratches on her face and there was white, square-shaped bandage taped to her chin. "Er, am I interrupting something?"

The blonde shook her head and smiled. "No - he's sleeping." She nodded towards the chair by her bedside. "Sit."

The darker-haired girl stepped closer, and when she finally eased herself into the chair Naminé noticed the light tinge of pink spread over her petite face. "At least he's finally sleeping," Xion chuckled and shook her head, "He wouldn't leave your side for a second - he was so worried about you. We all were."

Hearing that from someone she hardly knew was touching. "Thanks," Naminé glanced at her casted arm and frowned, "Your arm, though - I'm sorry. I should've done something-"

"No, it's alright, really - and besides, you kind of made up for it when you gave him a nice kick where the sun don't shine." The raven-haired girl grinned, and the blonde laughed quietly. "You really didn't have to come for me, you know. If you didn't...you wouldn't be lying here."

"I wanted to," The artist shook her head, "I mean, I know how much you mean to him-" She nodded towards Roxas, "-you should've seen him when he found out that you were missing; he was so bothered by it. I felt horrible that he was feeling that way - I had to help out somehow..."

Xion laughed a little sadly. "He wasn't kidding when he said you were perfect."

The blonde flushed and cast her eyes to her lap. "I don't understand where he's getting all of this from - I'm far from it!" She gave the darker-haired girl a despairing look, "You're a better fit for the description; I mean, look at you - you're independent, strong, brave, you can walk five metres without tripping over thin air-"

The raven-haired girl's eyes widened and she shook her head, her short black tendrils of hair swirling around her face. "Hearing you say all of those things only reinforces his point, Naminé," She gave her an apologetic smile, "You're selfless, modest, kind...everything Roxas said you were." Her vivid blue eyes glazed over with tears and she shook her head again. "He deserves someone like you, after everything he's gone through."

"Xion…" The blonde bit her bottom lip as she felt the corners of her eyes sting; seeing other people cry made her want to cry too, and the weight of their conversation was not helping much either, "D...don't think that you're any less significant, because you're not. There are some things you can do with him that I can't - things that only the best of friends can only do together." She leaned forward, cringing slightly at the stabbing pain in her ribcage, and reached for the other girl's hand, patting it comfortingly. "Believe it or not, you have a special relationship with Roxas, and I'm sure he knows it too. He has, does and always will love you - it's obvious to see that - so don't think that you're no longer important to him."

By now the tears were streaking both girls' faces. Xion glanced upwards and smiled, sniffling and weaving her fingers through Naminé's. She gave the artist's hand a squeeze, and she nodded. "I'm so happy, so happy he's found you," She chuckled, "You...you gave him something that I couldn't, something that he's been searching for forever. As long as he's happy, I'm happy too."

The blonde sniffled and nodded. "That's the spirit." Her eyes wandered over to Xion's good arm and she noticed a white cotton ball taped to the underside of her elbow. "Uh, did you get a needle or something? I thought Roxas said you were okay."

The darker-haired girl raised an eyebrow, confused, but when she looked at what Naminé was looking at she lit up with recognition. "Oh!" She laughed and shook her head, "No, no - I'm alright, but a day and a half ago you weren't."

The blonde tilted her head to the side, perplexed. "Uh…"

Xion laughed and nodded towards the bag of blood that was hooked up to the blonde's IV needle. "Your broken ribs sort of punctured your lungs - you were losing a lot of blood on the inside, and you didn't have a lot to begin with so we were all getting a little nervous," She jostled their joined hands, "And to make things worse your blood type is the rarest - AB Negative. Everyone took blood samples to see if they were a match, but there was a one in a million chance they would find one. Only point-eight of the world's population has your blood type."

Naminé's brow crinkled in thought. "But you…"

"Yeah," Xion smiled, "When I woke up the doctors told me that I was a match. Everyone was surprised 'cause like I said - finding two people with AB Negative is a one in a million chance. When they said you needed my blood I didn't even answer - I held out my arm and asked where the needle was."

A fresh round of tears made their way down the blonde's cheeks and she laughed, shaking her head. "Oh, Xion...I don't even know what to say."

The darker-haired girl smiled again. "Well, at least this way we know who to ask when we're in need of an emergency blood transfusion." She stood up to lean over Roxas, wrapping her good arm around the artist's shoulders and hugging her gently. "You've made a big difference, Naminé. I'm glad you came here."

The blonde patted her back and nodded against her shoulder. "I'm glad I came too."

"Aw," A voice piped up from the doorway and the girls' heads turned to see Axel leaning against the wall with that all-too-familiar smirk on his face, "Where's my hug?" He ambled towards the bed and snickered when he found a sleeping Roxas sandwiched in between the two girls. "Shame, he's sleeping through a moment any guy would _kill_ to have."

"Hiya," Naminé grinned up at him, and she squirmed when he reached towards her to muss up her hair, "How are you doing?"

The redhead scoffed as as he extended his arm towards Xion's hair. "Better than you."

"That's because you didn't have to put up with Seifer and the explosion that _could've_ been prevented if not for your extreme pyromania." The darker-haired girl rolled her eyes as she attempted to flatten her hair with her hands.

"I wasn't aiming for the barrel - I didn't even know it was there!" Axel yelled, flailing his arms, but then he remembered Roxas and he clamped his hands over his mouth. Roxas muttered something, but he did not wake; instead he shook his head and nuzzled closer against Naminé. The redhead chuckled at his best friend. "Heh, what a baby."

"What exactly _did_ you throw?" Naminé asked, glancing curiously at him.

"Er," Axel hesitated and reached for the back of his neck, "Is it really that important?"

"No," Xion replied, "But it would be nice to know since, well, it nearly killed the both of us."

"Ugh," The pyromaniac's eyes drifted towards the ceiling and he rubbed the back of his fiery mane, "It...itwasamolotov."

"A _what?"_ Both girls leaned in, and Axel groaned.

"It. Was. A. Molotov. Cocktail."

"You've got to be kidding me," Xion laughed darkly, "The firepower of a molotov mixed with a gigantic barrel of fuel would've blown up half of the warehouse!"

"There wasn't a lot of fuel in the bottle," Axel muttered, "I was only intending to incinerate a small group of dudes - the barrel just happened to be there."

"Even so, you could've at least watched where you were throwing." Xion rolled her eyes.

"You wanted to _burn_ people alive?!" Naminé hissed in disbelief, "I understand that The XIII and Seifer's gang are kinda rivals but you don't have to go _that_ far!"

He shrugged. "Hey, come back to me when one of _your_ best friends' life is on the line - I bet you wouldn't be so appalled."

"I swear," The blonde growled, "You're as idiotic as Roxas."

Axel grinned and rubbed the underside of his nose with an index finger. "What can I say? Great minds think alike."

Naminé only had to stay in the hospital for another day, but even when she arrived home she could not get out of bed for another two and a half weeks. Roxas, being the good boyfriend that he is, visited her every day after school to watch her and give out the homework that she missed. Xion often visited with him, and the two girls struck up a strong friendship. They were more alike than they thought: both were incredibly shy, they were the only victims to Axel's hair-mussing, they disliked Math and they had developed an addiction to sea-salt ice cream because of a certain blond boy. Kairi was eventually included in their friendship too, and once the blonde's ribs and respiratory system were completely healed the threesome often spent their weekends together in the city.

It was now the end of June: the blonde was staring dismally into her full-length mirror, tugging at the ends of her skirt. Her hair was its usual tousled self, and the curl of hair at the back was as rebellious as always.

"Naminé," Roxas called out impatiently from her room, "We have to go."

She huffed in frustration and stormed out of the closet. "But I look like a mess."

He stood up and dusted off his black dress pants, wandering towards her and shaking his head. "You do not," He smiled as he wrapped his arms around her waist, squeezing her affectionately, "And besides, it's just a high school graduation ceremony - it's not even yours!"

She frowned against his shoulder. "Still."

He laughed and shook his head. "You look fine." He reached upwards to cradle her face in his hands. "I don't think Axel would care, anyway."

"Larxene will."

"Who cares about what she thinks?"

"...Axel?"

Roxas chuckled and shrugged his shoulders. "You think so too, huh?" His hand found hers and he gently tugged her out of her room.

Naminé's eyebrow was raised the entire time they descended the steps. "What's that supposed to mean?"

He gave her an enigmatic smile as he stepped into his car. "Whatever you want it to be." He glanced into the rearview mirror, straightened his tie and stuck the key into the ignition.

The graduation ceremony took place in the school auditorium; it looked a lot like a theatre, with cushioned seats and a large stage with bright spotlights.

"'Ey, dude and dudette," Xigbar leaned forward in his seat to grin at the two blondes; his suit was entirely black, "Looking good!"

"Ew, you're matching," Xion jokingly wrinkled her nose; she, too, was wearing all black, and though she was still wearing a cast she no longer had to wear a sling, it was not as thick as before and it was covered in all sorts of graffiti images and people's signatures, "That's such an old people thing to do."

Naminé stared at her pearly white strapless dress, and then over to Roxas' black suit, black dress shirt and white tie; her eyes widened and her face turned red as she smiled nervously at her friend. "Er, that was unintentional." She frowned and tugged on her hair. "Uh, isn't it kind of bad that _all_ of you are out here in public?"

"Rubbish," Luxord waved his hand dismissively; his suit was all black like the other male members of The XIII, except that he was not wearing a tie and the top buttons of his dress shirt were undone, "What's the harm in attending your mates' graduation?"

The ceremonies started soon afterwards; they were forced to sit through the long, tedious speeches from the principal and the vice-principal, and then they had to endure the valedictorian speech (Roxas had to nudge Xigbar awake at least seventeen times and Vexen seemed to be the only one who was actually listening). Around an hour later the distribution of the diplomas finally commenced, but unfortunately there were at least three hundred graduating students so it was going to take forever.

"God," Naminé breathed a sigh of relief once the last diploma was given, "I was wondering when it was going to finish."

"Hm?" Xigbar yawned and stretched his arms, "What did I miss?"

"Everything." Xaldin added cheekily, and everyone laughed.

"Hey!" Axel pushed through the crowd, beaming like a child in a candy store; he was waving his diploma in the air and his graduation cap sat in a lopsided fashion atop his spiky mane, "So, whaddya think? Do I fit the description of a high school graduate?" He puffed out his chest and held his diploma in the air to make himself look powerful and important.

"Personally, no," Roxas smirked, "But the school thinks you do, so I guess that's okay too."

The redhead's chest deflated and his eyes dulled. "And you wonder why your girlfriend's my new favourite blonde," He gave his best friend a nasty glare before reaching forward to tousle the artist's flaxen locks, "Y'know, I never thought I'd actually get up to this point."

"But you did," Naminé grinned, "And I'm proud of you - Roxas doesn't look like it, but on the inside he is too."

"So, any after-grad plans, mates?" Luxord appeared from behind and slung his arms around Numbers XIII and VIII, smirking at the both of them, "Supper? Drinks? Anyone fancy a round of strip poker?" He threw a suggestive wink in Naminé's direction and her face flushed a deep scarlet.

Roxas glared at Number X and shrugged his arm off. "Dinner sounds good." He muttered as he threw a possessive arm around the artist's waist.

"Oh, so you're volunteering to treat all of us?" Axel smirked as his best friend's eyes widened, "How thoughtful of you, Roxas!" He turned towards the rest of the gang, "Hey guys - dinner's on Roxas tonight!"

Everyone whooped and cheered, and Roxas groaned and slapped a hand to his face; Naminé could not help but burst into laughter. They all piled into separate cars and drove all the way to _Le Soleil Couchant; _everyone seemed excited to eat fancy food - except for Roxas, who was paying for it all.

"Ah, eet ees nice to see you all again," Adrien greeted them all with a bow; when he straightened up he eyed Naminé lewdly, "And I see you've brought your _belle_ _fille_ again, Numero Treize." When the smallest blonde gave him a shy wave he let out a low chuckle. "Your tables are ready in ze usual spot - Superior is up zere waiting for you."

"Superior?" Vexen spluttered, "He's actually here? How did he even know we were eating here?"

"Why wouldn't he be?" Axel puffed out his chest again, "He's probably proud that his favourite member is now an official high school graduate."

Larxene scoffed. "Sorry, Axel, but you're not Saïx."

"This is great," Demyx was grinning from ear to ear as they approached the stairs, "You can finally meet our boss, Naminé!"

For some reason she felt intimidated. "Er, hooray?"

"Don't worry," Xaldin gave her a reassuring smile, "He may look intimidating but he's actually not that bad - he can actually come off as a bit charming."

"Yeah," Xigbar winked at her, "And he has a soft spot for pretty girls, so you've got some sort of an advantage."

"He doesn't seem to be the only one." Roxas muttered through gritted teeth, and his hold around Naminé's waist tightened by just a little.

"Maybe that's why he hates you so much, Larxene." Axel snorted; he raised his arms to protect his face as Number XII began to punch every inch of him. "Ow, ow - okay, I'm sorry, I take it back!"

When the somewhat large group finally reached the roof the first thing Naminé noticed was that there was not a single table waiting for them, but at least five: they were all covered in the same white cloth, and they were all decorated with the same silver candelabra and crystal vases with fresh roses. The cutlery and plates were shiny and new-looking, and the crystal glasses were already filled with water.

"Congratulations Axel, Larxene, Demyx and Zexion," A man had approached them from the far end of the railing; his skin was dark, his hair was long and silvery and his eyes were a strange, sulphuric yellow. Unlike the rest of The XIII he was wearing a white suit with a black shirt and a silver tie; he gave the group a welcoming smile and spread out his arms, "You've taken another step into adulthood - the real world is at your fingertips; grasp it with all the strength in your young fingers, for you'll never know when it'll slip right through them."

Another man Naminé had never seen before stepped out from behind him; he had a strange, x-shaped scar on his face and his hair was blue. His suit was black like the others. "It's nice to see you all."

Roxas awkwardly cleared his throat and stepped forward, pulling the small artist with him. "Xemnas," He nodded towards the silver-haired man, "Saïx," He also gave the second man a short nod, "This is Naminé."

Xemnas' bright yellow eyes widened for a moment, and then his mouth split into a kind, welcoming smile. "So you are Naminé," He took her free hand in his and politely pecked her knuckles, "I've been anticipating this moment for some time now."

The blonde blinked rapidly, trying to make sense of all of this. "R-really? You've...you've been waiting to meet me?"

"Yes," The leader of The XIII straightened up and placed his hands behind his back, "We all have."

"We've heard a lot about you," Saïx added; his voice was deep and lacked emotion, giving off a sort of stoic vibe, "You've made quite a difference in Roxas' life, and that's noteworthy - at least to the likes of us."

The other members scattered to the different tables, but Roxas and Axel stayed put. Xemnas' eyes crinkled as he threw them another smile. "It's so rare in this world to find someone that can make us feel so whole, so...complete. To make one of our own - Roxas, out of all of them - feel as such you must be in possession of something extraordinary."

She absently scuffed the floor with her heels. "You make it sound as if I'm some kind of superhuman."

"You'll be surprised at how powerful love can be," The gang leader chuckled, "Sadly I've never been in love, nor do I think I ever will be but I've seen it happen to those around me and it's astonishing - the changes and hardships they endure for that other person, the things they are willing to sacrifice for them; it's unbelievable.

"Roxas has been one of my most faithful and most trusted allies in the past few years that I've known him, but at the same time I could not help but feel grief whenever I was in his presence. He always seemed so distracted, so bothered by the emptiness in his life...I'm more than certain that all of the other members have taken notice of his pain." Xemnas gave the thirteenth member a nod, and Naminé felt Roxas' hand tighten around hers. "When he first mentioned you I knew something good was going to happen, and of course I've never been mistaken."

"I've found everything in her, Superior," Roxas turned to smile at her, and Naminé blushed in embarrassment but thankfully the hues of the setting sun concealed the worst of it; the thirteenth member bent over a little in a respectable, apologetic bow, "But that also means that my time with The XIII is finished."

_"What?!" _Axel exploded, stepping backwards in surprise, "Y-you...you can't leave!"

"Why not?" Roxas asked with one eyebrow quirked upwards, "I found what I was looking for, didn't I? Isn't that the whole reason why everyone's here?"

Naminé could feel the eyes of the other members on the two best friends as they quarreled senselessly; Axel shook his fiery head and slapped a hand to his forehead. "Yeah, but…" He faltered and his shoulders drooped in disappointment, "That means you won't be hanging out with us anymore."

Demyx whispered something to Larxene in the background and they both erupted into a fit of poorly-concealed snickers. Roxas sighed uncomfortably and ruffled the back of his hair. "Just because I'm not a part of The XIII anymore doesn't mean that we can't be friends, Axel."

Xemnas chuckled. "He's right, VIII - and we all knew that Roxas would be the first to go. He's been looking the hardest."

"Yeah," Demyx sneered from his table, "Superior's giving you a hint, Axel - you gotta work harder!"

Everyone burst into laughter, and the pyromaniac threw them a dirty glare. He sighed and shook his head, returning his attention to the two blondes. "Alright, alright, if it makes you happy," He smiled for them, "But just to make things clear: Naminé's _still_ my favourite blonde."

Dinner commenced soon afterwards; Naminé thought that eating with fourteen members of a notorious gang would be somewhat intimidating but she was proved wrong. It was actually like having dinner with overgrown children: Axel, as usual, picked pointless fights with Demyx, Larxene and Roxas - his quarrels with Larxene were the funniest because he always got hurt in the end. Xigbar cracked a few dumb jokes every now and then, and Luxord would awe everyone with one of his dinner table magic tricks (she was still trying to figure out how he made that salt shaker disappear and how he managed to bend the tines of his fork in different directions by just shaking the utensil). The evening ended with Axel sneakily slipping in pepper into Vexen's wine, and since it was already dark out the poor blond did not notice the dark specs floating around in his drink.

Dinner eventually ended, but Axel, Xion, Naminé and Roxas decided to stay on the roof for a little bit longer. The foursome were leaning against the iron rail (except for the redhead, who was actually sitting on it), watching the full moon and the twinkling stars.

"Did you see how red his eyes got?" Axel spluttered in between fits of laughter, "And the way he kept gagging - oh God, what a way to end the day!"

"Does this sort of stuff happen on a regular basis?" The blonde turned towards the only other female in the group, and she giggled when the darker-haired one of the two nodded dismally.

"This is nothing - it's _really_ bad back at headquarters," Xion shook her head, "I remember this one time when Axel snuck into the bathroom while Larxene was taking a shower and he managed to steal-"

"We don't need to hear that story," The redhead cut in immediately; his face was as red as his hair and his sharp green eyes were shifting around, trying to avoid his friends' gazes, "It wasn't that funny."

"Yes it was," Roxas chuckled, "Especially when Larxene stormed out and-"

"NO!" The pyromaniac flailed his arms frantically, "Shut up, shut up - I don't want to hear it!"

"For some reason I don't think I want to hear it either." Naminé mumbled; from Xion and Roxas' partial explanations it sounded a little too explicit for her tastes. She shook her head, trying to rid herself of the images that formed inside her brain, and turned towards Axel. "So are you guys gonna come visit us in Twilight Town?"

"Duh," He smirked, "Xion and I got it all planned out - we're taking Zexion, Larxene, Demyx and whoever else that wants to come on a road trip from here to Twilight Town, and we'll stay there for the last two weeks of July."

"Yeah," The raven-haired girl added, "And then when you guys come back here we can drive back with you so we'll all be together for the remainder of our summer vacation."

"Sounds great," The blonde grinned, "I can't wait to show you guys my hometown - we can go to the beach!"

"And I can kick Roxas' ass in Struggle," Axel turned towards his best friend, who was rolling his eyes, "For some reason I've always had this strong desire to hit you over the head with a toy bat."

"Gee, thanks, best friend." The blond muttered. He gave Naminé a one-armed squeeze, and she yawned and pressed her cheek against his shoulder. "Anyway, we better get going - she's leaving tomorrow morning."

"What, already?" Axel hopped off the railing and rubbed the back of his head, "Well, alright then-" He opened his arms and Naminé broke away from Roxas to give her redheaded friend a hug, "-I guess I'll see you in a few weeks." He ruffled her hair, like he always did.

"I'll be waiting." She smiled as she pulled away. She turned towards Xion and gave her a hug as well. "Make sure he behaves - especially when you're on the road."

"I always do," The darker-haired girl laughed, "We'll see you around, Naminé."

"Later Roxas." Axel waved, and his best friend gave him a nod before turning around and walking towards the door.

Naminé caught up to him and laced her fingers with his. "Your friends are great," She giggled, "It's a shame I haven't met them sooner."

He shook his head. "Great? I guess that's one way to look at it." When they exited the elevator Roxas swept his blazer around her shoulders and hugged her close to his side as they walked to his car.

"Are you coming back?" She asked hopefully once they reached the front doors of the Hinomoto manor.

"Only if you want me to." He smiled, pressing his forehead against hers.

"Yes please," She smiled shyly, "I won't be seeing you for a week so I need to steal as much time with you as I possibly can."

"Alright," He chuckled against her lips, "I'll see you in an hour or two."

Naminé had already packed all her things; her suitcases were lying by her door, and her closet was almost completely empty. She stretched her arms as she made her way towards the bathroom to dress and wash up; when she was done she made sure to unclasp her necklace before crawling into bed.

Roxas climbed in from her window an hour later, just like he said. "Everything looks so empty," He chuckled as he shrugged out of his shirt, "You've really swept through the place didn't you?"

She pulled him into bed beside her, smiling as he cradled her face in his hands. He leaned in, closing his eyes and kissing her softly; her hands moved to loosely grasp his wrists, and her long eyelashes fluttered to a close as well. When they broke apart they lowered onto the mattress and her arms wound around his neck as she pressed her cheek against his collarbone, breathing in his cologne. "I'm surprised Kairi doesn't know anything about this yet."

"Isn't that a good thing?" His hands were rubbing circles against her back and she was feeling sleepier with every passing second. She yawned and nuzzled closer to him, and he craned his head to kiss her temple. "Sleep now, Naminé - you have a long day ahead of you."

"Will you be here when I wake up?" She asked quietly.

"Of course I will," He kissed her again, "I love you."

"I love you too." Her voice was slow from fatigue and muffled against his neck.

He kept true to his word; Naminé woke up the next morning to find him sleeping next to her with one arm thrown over her waist. She giggled and slipped out from underneath his arm to take a quick shower; she changed into jean shorts and a white tank top and leapt back onto the mattress, straddling his back and shoving his shoulders. "Wake up," She said half-sternly, half-amusedly, "I have to go soon."

He groaned and rolled on his back, staring up at her with half-open blue eyes. "Already?"

She lowed herself so that she was lying on top of him, and she kissed the corner of his mouth. "Yes," She smiled sadly, "Kairi'll storm into my room in approximately fifteen minutes from now, demanding that I get my butt downstairs with all of my things."

He sat up, bringing her with him; she wrapped her legs around his waist and he nuzzled his head against her neck. "Do you need any help?"

"I'll get Geoferry to help me," She replied with a smirk, "'Cause if anyone sees you they're gonna wonder how you got here in the first place." She crawled off of him and bent over the side of the bed to fetch his clothes. "Hurry up and get dressed - like I said, Kairi will be here in fifteen minutes."

"Oh, right." He pulled on his t-shirt and wriggled into his jeans. After stepping into his shoes he stretched his arms, and she stood up and hugged his waist. He chuckled and hugged her back, nuzzling his head against hers. "Will you be okay without me for a few days? No tripping over invisible objects, no tangling yourself in the sheets and tumbling off the bed when you wake up in the morning, no falling _up_ the stairs instead of _down?"_

Her face was a violent shade of red. "Er, I can't guarantee." She glared up at him as he laughed. "Okay, I know I'm disabled - you don't have to rub it in." She stood on her tiptoes and kissed him daintily. "Make sure Sora packs all of his things, okay?"

He chuckled and nodded obediently. "Your clumsiness is oddly adorable, actually, and don't worry - I'll double-check his suitcases to make sure." He relinquished his hold on her and made his way towards the window, and she ducked underneath her bed to grab the rope. When she tossed it to him he gave her one last kiss. "I'll see you in a week." He threw the rope over the windowsill and she quickly tied it to her bedpost. She watched him climb all the way down, and she waved as he ran off.

As she pulled the rope back into her room thoughts of the past few months ran through her head; she remembered distinctly how reluctant she was to move here in the first place, and how she found her new room so perfectly aligned to her tastes. She recalled seeing Sora for the first time and wondering how his hair managed to define gravity.

Then she remembered seeing Roxas storm through History class looking like the world was against him, and how he could not stop staring at her. She remembered how flustered she would feel whenever they met eyes, and how embarrassed she was when she collided with him in Gym class. She remembered their lunch sessions in the bleachers and his irritatingly smooth demeanor; she remembered tasting sea-salt ice cream for the first time. She remembered seeing him and Xion downtown and meeting Riku, and that dreadfully long weekend. She remembered him explaining everything to her, and how it hurt him to see her cry.

Then there was the first date, which was amazing at first but then Seifer had to ruin everything. She remembered another agonizingly long weekend and the horrible Monday afterward. She recalled driving lessons with Riku and their date that did not end up as disastrous as she thought it was going to be.

She remembered the holidays and the nice gifts her friends gave her. She remembered painfully running into Roxas at Sunset Hill and how hard it was to watch Sora and Kairi together under the stars. She remembered the key-shaped pendants, the keys to his heart - the ones she was wearing now.

New Years was something she did not want to think about, but she realized that it was inevitable; she remembered the fear that paralyzed her and the way Seifer violated and dirtied her. She knew from the very beginning that she was never going to forget that dark, lustful look in his eyes. She remembered Roxas storming in and dragging Seifer out. She recalled how gentle he was when he held her in his arms, soothing her and singing her to sleep with his soft voice. She remembered sneaking into his room while he was asleep and awing at his toned physique, while at the same time dying from embarrassment.

Then there were those infuriating Math lessons and how he sandwiched her in between him and the couch, and the unexpected kiss that caused him to leave again. She remembered Valentines and the flowers, and running out from under the bleachers to make sure he was never going to leave again.

Then Xion went missing, and she remembered the pain in his eyes and the guilt she felt for having stolen him away from her. She remembered stepping into that icy cold puddle while sneaking through the alleyway and the way the vents smelled as she crawled through them. She remembered Seifer's new, ravaged face and the explosion that could have killed her. If she thought really hard she could still feel the stabbing pain in her ribs, the aching in her head and the hazy heat from the flames that surrounded her. She remembered the blood distorting her vision and Riku's voice calling her name.

She remembered waking up to the white sting of the hospital room, and Roxas telling her how he could not leave her side until he saw her wake up with his own eyes. She remembered telling him that she loved him and how amazing it felt to say it. She remembered Xion and how they had the same blood type, even though it was a one in a million chance. She remembered Axel's graduation and his plans to visit her and Roxas, and the way his face turned red when Xion and Roxas tried to explain some mishap he had with Larxene.

Was she a completely different person all those months ago, before all of these things happened? Did all of that waiting, pain, frustration, confusion and fear help her see where she truly belonged in this world? She was never meant for McMansions and fancy cars, she was sure of that, but for some reason she was standing in a McMansion at the very moment, ready to stuff her bags into her fancy car. She never expected to make such great, quirky, memorable friends, and she sure as hell never thought she would be in a relationship with a certain blond boy who kept her waiting for all of these months.

Hm, maybe she did do a little bit of growing up after all.

Kairi knocked on her door, scaring her out of her thoughts. "Nami, are you ready?"

Her cousin's words could have meant many things.

"Yeah," Naminé grinned, "I am."

--

_A/N: I know everybody hates Xion (Hah, sounds like the title of a really funny story - hm, do I smell another plot bunny?), but I kinda don't so I tried to make her somewhat likable._

_I don't know why I made Mansex so...emotional. It just suited him in that particular situation. I remembered how he always made these long, corny speeches during the game so I tried to add that aspect to the story._

_Parts of this chapter have been inspired by yet another Cinematic Sunrise song: _Crossing Our Fingers For The Summer. _I also used a part of the lyrics for the chapter title._

_Anyway, that's a wrap! I hope you had as much fun reading this as I had writing it, and I appreciate all of your support! I'll see you again when the rewrite comes up, and keep your eyes open for the midquel starring everyone's favourite pyromaniac!_


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